UC-NRLF 


$B    3fiM    D51 


LIBRARY 


University  of  California. 


Gl  FT    OF 


r 


Clks 


.<7wC^v<^. 


(J 


u 


^ 


JUVENILE  COURT 
LAWS,  ETC. 


SUGGESTED  BY 

THE  JUVENILE  IMPROVEMENT 

ASSOCIATION  OF 

DENVER 


JUVENILE  COURT 
LAWS,  ETC 


PUBLISHED  BY 


THE  JUVENILE  IMPROVEMENT 
"  ASSCXnATION  OF 
DENVER 


\j_^Oiil 


OF   1 


A  STATEMENT 

By   the  Judge  of  the   Denver  Juvenile   Court   concerning 

Juvenile  Court  Laws  with  information  and  suggestions 

concerning  the  w^ork  of  such  courts. 


JUVENILE  COURT  BILLS.  The  bills  that  follow  are 
compiled  from  the  laws  of  Illinois  and  Colorado.  They  were 
compiled  by  the  writer  at  the  request  of  the  State  Commissioner 
of  Charities  and  Corrections  of  the  new  state  of  Oklahoma  as 
suggestive  for  that  state.  The  bill  relating  to  contributory  de- 
linquency and  dependency  is  the  result  of  work  and  experi- 
ence under  that  law  for  the  past  five  years,  and  since  it  was 
first  adopted  in  the  State  of  Colorado.  The  bill  relating  to 
juvenile  delinquency  contains  the  additions  and  suggestions 
recently  added  to  the  Illinois  law,  which  went  into  effect  July 
1st,  1907,  with  amendments  that  have  been  suggested  in  that 
and  other  states  since  it  was  first  passed  in  1899.  The  bills 
as  printed  are  compiled  from  the  sources  referred  to  with  a 
view  primarily  of  being  fitted  to  conditions  such  as  pertain 
to  the  average  state.  A  few  alterations  or  additions  as  to 
details  have  been  made  and  some  others  may  be  required. 
These  will  depend  largely  upon  the  peculiar  conditions  of 
each  state.  Care  should  be  taken  in  their  preparation 
that  they  conform  to  directions  of  the  particular  state 
constitution.  In  some  states  the  matters  covered  by 
these  two  bills  may  be  embraced  in  a  number  of  statutes,  but 
it  is  believed  after  long  experience  that  the  subjects  contained 
in  the  bills  that  follow  are  fairly  embraced  within  the  pur- 
poses of  their  titles.  This  is  an  important  matter  for  con- 
sideration in  those  states  where  the  constitution  forbids  more 
than  one  subject  to  be  embraced  in  a  single  bill  and  that  sub- 
ject germane  to  the  title. 

DETAILS.  Such  details  as  the  number  of  probation 
oflficers,  their  salaries,  by  whom  appointed,  and  the  detention 
home  school  in  place  of  the  jail  for  the  larger  cities,  etc.,  are 
matters  that  must  be  worked  out  in  any  state  by  those  most 
familiar  with  conditions  and. the  needs  of  the  particular  city 


JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC.  8 

or  State.  It  is  an  advantage  to  have  such  bills  considered  and 
backed  by  those  representing  the  educational  departments  of 
the  state,  the  cjiild  saving  agencies  or  those  actively  interested 
therein,  such  as  the  different  women's  organizations,  for  the 
women  led  by  those  like  Mrs.  Lucy  Flower  and  Mrs.  Stevens 
of  Chicago,  and  Mrs.  Schoff  of  Philadelphia,  are  particularly 
responsible  for  the  Juvenile  Court  in  this  country.  Some  good 
lawyer  or  committee  of  lawyers  should  carefully  test  the  bill  by 
the  provisions  of  the  state  constitution  and  see  that  it  otherwise 
harmonizes  with  the  judicial  system  and  other  statutes  of  the 
state.  It  will  be  found,  as  a  rule,  in  bills  of  this  character,  that 
if  an  attempt  is  made  to  embrace  within  it  too  many  subjects, 
such,  for  instance,  as  establishing  state  institutions,  constitu- 
tional difficulties  may  arise  that  might  subject  the  bill  to  at- 
tack. As  a  general  rule,  such  institutions  are  established  by 
separate  bills  for  that  purpose. 

THE  COURT. — In  those  states  having  under  the  con- 
stitution a  system  of  courts  of  record,  with  broad  probate  or 
chancery  powers  and  jurisdiction  in  misdemeanor  cases,  as 
may  be  vested  in  county  or  probate  courts  in  each  county,  it  is 
generally  wise  to  put  the  jurisdiction  under  these  laws  in  such 
probate  or  county  court.  The  fact  that  there  is  always  a  judge 
in  each  county  makes  the  advantage  of  the  county  or  probate 
courts  apparent.  The  jurisdiction  falls  naturally  in  such  courts 
in  line  with  its  other  equity  jurisdiction  in  probate  matters, 
the  appointment  of  guardians,  etc.  For  convenience  in  the 
trial  of  these  cases  relating  to  children,  the  court  is  termed  The 
Juvenile  Court,  and  the  trials, are  held  separate  or  on  separate 
days  from  the  trials  of  adults.  :_This  accomplishes  all  that  could 
be  accomplished  by  a  separate  court,  and  has  many  advantages 
over  a  separate  court.  It  is  less  likely  to  be  attacked  and  is 
more  serviceable  as  a  rule,  because  of  the  broad  and  unlimited 
chancery  and  criminal  jurisdiction  of  a  constitutional  court  of 
record.  In  Illinois,  outside  of  Chicago,  the  county  or  probate 
court  is  the  juvenile  court,  as  it  is  in  Colorado  and  in  a  num- 
ber of  western  states  having  the  county  courts  provided  for 
under  the  constitution.  In  Chicago,  because  of  the  size  of  the 
city  and  other  local  conditions,  the  circuit  court,  which  has  a 
large  number  of  judges,  is  designated  as  the  juvenile  court,  and 


178101 


4  JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS.   ETC. 

the  judges  of  that  court  designate  one  of  their  number  to  act  as 
juvenile  judge.  The  court  began  there  with  Hon.  Richard  S. 
JTuthill  as  the  first  judg^,  who  served  for  the  first  five  years  of 
the  court.  He  was  succeeded  by  Hon.  Juhan  W.  Mack,  who 
served  for  about  three  years.  At  present  the  court  is  presided 
over  again  by  Judge  Tuthill,  but  these  two  judges  have  be- 
tween them  done  substantially  all  of  the  court  work  of  the 
juvenile  court  during  its  existence  in  that  city  with  substitutes 
only  during  their  absence  from  the  city.  This  method  does  not 
necessarily  and  should  not  require  that  judges  rotate  every  few 
months,  which  is  a  disadvantage  if  insisted  upon.  In  Denver, 
because  the  city  is  one  of  two  hundred  thousand  people,  and 
Judge  Lindsey,  who  founded  the  court  there  while  county 
judge,  was  crowded  with  work  and  for  other  reasons,  a  special 
court  was  created  after  his  ideal  of  such  a  court,  which  simply 
continued  the  jurisdiction  he  had  employed  for  seven  years  in 
trying  practically  all  cases  that  pertained  to  children,  and  also 
adults  in  any  way  involved,  in  a  special  court  for  that  purpose 
having  unlimited  chancery  and  criminal  jurisdiction  to  deal 
with  every  aspect  of  the  case  that  pertains  to  a  child.  This  ad- 
vantage enjoyed  for  years  in  Denver  was  one  that  was  not  gen- 
erally possessed  by  other  juvenile  courts,  but  it  may  be  con- 
ferred by  statute,  we  believe,  upon  most  of  the  county  courts 
where  a  county  court  system  exists,  as  was  done  in  the  state 
of  Colorado.  A  special  court  is  not  recommended,  except  for 
very  large  cities,  and  even  in  those  cases,  if  it  is  to  be  adopted, 
it  should  be  only  after  the  work  has  progressed  in  one  of  the 
regular  courts  for  a  number  of  years  until  it  is  thoroughly  un- 
derstood and  the  needs  and  conditions  of  the  city  with  reference 
thereto  are  also  better  understood.  Otherwise  a  special  court 
is  liable  to  be  a  serious  mistake. 

SEPARATE  COURT.— Because  of  the  crowded  condi- 
tion of  Judgfe  Stubbs'  court  in  Indianapolis  the  leofislature  o^ 
Indiana  created  the  first  separate  juvenile  court  for  this  city 
about  five  years  ago,  and  Judge  Stubbs,  one  of  our  most  effi- 
cient juvenile  judges,  has  presided  over  it  ever  since  its  crea- 
tion. We  understand  the  juvenile  court  in  Baltimore,  Md.,  so 
ably  presided  over  by  Judge  Heuisler  for  the  past  five  or  six 


JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS.  ETC.  5 

years,  is  also  a  separate  juvenile  court.  Both  of  these  judges  are 
among  the  best  known  in  the  country  and  have  done  much  to 
develop  the  separate  court  system  for  a  large  city.  Two  years 
ago  a  separate  court  was  established  in  Boston,  Mass.,  and  is 
ably  presided  over  by  Judge  Harvey  Baker.  The  writer  has 
doubted  the  wisdom  of  a  "separate"  court,  such  even  as  that 
first  established  in  Indianapolis,  unless  it  could  be  given  com- 
plete chancery  jurisdiction — that  is,  armed  with  equity  powers 
to  deal  with  every  aspect  of  the  case  concerning  the  child  and  its 
parents,  and  also  criminal  jurisdiction  to  deal  with  all  contribu- 
tory dependents  and  delinquents,  and  such  other  misdemeanor 
laws  as  forbidding  the  sale  of  liquor,  tobacco,  immoral  litera- 
ture, firearms,  etc.,  to  youths  and  forbidding  girls  an^.  L-oys 
in  improper  resorts.  The  Court  must  be  able  not  only  to  cor- 
rect the  child  but  to  protect  the  child,  and  to  this  end  it  should 
have  power  to  deal  with  every  aspect  of  the  case  and  thus  spe- 
cialize in  the  protection  of  the  youth  of  the  state  by  enforcing 
its  laws  for  their  protection  as  well  as  correction.  In  time  it  is 
the  hope  of  the  writer  that  such  a  court  will  exist  in 
every  large  city  and  that  its  quarters  will  be  in  a  building  to 
itself  in  which  will  also  bo  the  quarters  of  the  probation  officers, 
truant  officers,  humane  society  officers,  and  the  detention  home 
and  school.  Such  a  permanent  building,  in  a  measure,  has 
recently  been  established  in  Chicago  and  begun  in  Milwaukee 
and  committees  have  been  appointed  to  secure  it  in  Denver, 
v/here  a  start  to  that  end  has  been  made..  It  has  been  sug- 
gested that  the  jurisdiction  be  put  in  one  of  the  regu- 
lar courts  even  in  large  cities  like  Chicago,  and  an  ad- 
ditional judge  be  added  to  the  regular  constitutional  court 
for  such  special  purposes  as  a  better  plan  than  establishing 
separate  courts.  However  this  may  be,  there  is  nothing 
new  or  of  special  advantage  about  a  separate  court  further  than 
the  fact  that  it  relieves  the  judge  of  much  other  w^ork.  It  does 
not,  however,  seriously  affect  the  probation  officers.  They 
must  in  any  event  do  most  of  the  personal  work  with  the  child 
or  children,  and  they  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  other  civil 
cases  in  the  court.  The  only  state  having  no  large  city,  so  far 
as  we  are  advised,  having  a  so-called  "separate"  court,  is  the 
state  of  Utah,  although  it  is  not  the  first  court  of  the  kind. 


6  JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,   ETC. 

This  separate  court  that  was  thus  estabhshed  in  Utah  about 
two  years  ago  was  based  upon  that  of  IndianapoHs,  Indiana, 
and  sections  of  the  laws  of  Colorado  and  Illinois. 

The  law  was  repealed  because  of  its  many  defects,  and 
able  members  of  the  bar  in  Utah,  taking  parts  of  the  laws  of 
other  states  and  making  some  additions  to  comply  with  a  recent 
decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Utah  and  the  constitution  of 
that  state  have  succeeded  in  having  passed  during  the  past 
year  a  very  good  juvenile  court  law,  containing  the  material 
principles  of  such  laws  from  Illinois,  Colorado  and    Indiana. 

QUALIFICATIONS  OF  JUDGES.— A  difference  of 
opinion  exists  on  this  point.  The  writer  believes  that  an 
educator,  even  if  not  a  thoroughly  trained  lawyer,  may  make  a 
T  competent  juvenile  court  judge,  provided  that  he  shall  have 
made  some  considerable  study  of  the  law  relating  to  children 
as  well  as  criminal  law.  Still  many  of  our  best  authorities 
and  pioneers  in  juvenile  court  matters  like  Judge  T.  D.  Hurley, 
the  first  chief  probation  officer  of  Chicago,  and  Hon.  Julian 
W.  Mack,  one  of  the  able  judges  of  the  juvenile  court  of  Chi- 
cago, seriously  question  permitting  a  layman  as  juvenile  judge 
when  some  of  the  most  sacred  rights  of  the  citizen,  not  to  be 
lightly  regarded,  are  being  constantly  dealt  with  in  both  the 
chancery  and  criminal  jurisdictions  of  the  juvenile  court.  As 
to  the  child,  however,  the  most  important  and  indispensable 
qualification  in  a  judge  or  probation  officer  is  an  understand- 
ing  of  child  nature. 

SOME  MISCONCEPTIONS.— The  advocates  of  Ju- 
venile Court  legislation  do  not  say  that  a  child  can- 
not do  a  criminal  act  until  after  he  is  twenty-one 
or  even  sixteen,  and  it  is  not  the  purpose  of  the  juvenile 
law  to  so  affirm.  Indeed,  the  law  itself,  if  it  is  an  elastic 
and  wise  one,  will  permit  prosecutions  on  the  criminal 
side  of  the  docket  where  it  appears  necessary.  Some  of  the 
most  dangerous  criminals  we  have  had  to  deal  with  have  been 
young  boys,  such  as  the  car  barn  murderers  in  Chicago  and 
others.  Spreading  abroad  such  an  erroneous  idea  as  juvenile 
court  doctrine,  that  a  child  cannot  do  a  criminal  act  within 
the  ages  of  delinquency,  which  is  as  high  as  eighteen  in  many 
states,  will  influence  legislators  against  this  law,  as  it  did  in 


JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS.   ETC.  7 

one  state  to  such  an  extent  as  materially  to  assist  in  its  entire 
repeal.  Stealing  is  stealing,  and  it  is  not  the  purpose 
of  the  Juvenile  Court  to  teach  children  or  to  spread 
the  doctrine  abroad  that  what  they  do  in  this  respect  is  in  any 
way  justified.  The  idea  is  rather  to  correct  the  child  under 
the  forms  of  law  without  stigmatizing  him  in  the  first  instance 
as  a  criminal  and  handicapping  him,  and  also  to  reach  the  child 
for  acts  short  of  crime  but  which  will  develop  into  crime  un- 
less corrected.  And  thus  the  delinquency  act  permits  us  to 
reach  out  and  assist  the  child  before  the  criminal  stage  is 
reached.  The  criminal  law  did  not  permit  this.  Under  seven 
or  ten,  where  a  child  has  not  yet  come  to  the  age  of  reason 
and  does  not  know  the  difference  between  right  and  wrong,  it 
may  be  said,  as  courts  and  statutes  have  said,  that  it  cannot  be 
guilty  of  crime. 

ESTABLISHING  DELINQUENCY  IN  THE  CHAN- 
CERY COURT. — This  law  embodies  the  doctrines  of  a  chan- 
cery court  for  hundreds  of  years  in  so  far  as  dependency  is 
concerned,  and  this  principle  able  judges,  lawyers  and  laymen 
have  long  been  endeavoring  to  apply  equally  to  delinquency, 
in  order  that  the  child  may  be  headed  off  before  he  commits 
crime,  or  if  he  does  commit  a  crime  he  may  not  in  the 
first  instance  be  charged  therewith,  but  dealt  with  as 
a  ward  of  the  state,  and  as  specifically  declared  by  the 
Colorado  act,  for  instance,  "As  far  as  practicable,  not  as  a 
criminal,  but  as  being  misdirected  and  misguided  and  needing 
aid,  help,  assistance  and  encouragement,"  and  by  the  original 
juvenile  delinquency  act  prepared  by  Judge  Hurd  in  Chicago 
in  1899,  when  it  declared  that  the  purpose  of  the  act  was  that 
the  child  should  be  treated  and  corrected  as  it  would  be  by  its 
parents,  and  it  should  be  cared  for  in  some  suitable  family 
home,  and  not  in  jails,  etc.  Thus  it  has  been  that  the  chan- 
cery or  equity  jurisdiction  has  always  been  specifically  invoked 
by  these  acts  in  every  state  so  far  as  they  deal  with  the  child. 

This  purpose,  therefore,  has  always  been  declared  by  the 
construction  clause  of  these  acts,  but  it  was  not  till  after  a 
struggle  in  the  courts  that  it  was  settled  in  accordance  with 
such  declarations,  so  that  until  it  was  finally  settled  some  of 
these  acts  had  to  be  drawn  in  the  alternative,  declaring  this  its 


8  JUVENILE  COURT   LAWS.   ETC. 

purpose  in  such  language  as  this  ''As  far  as  practicable  the 
child  shall  not  be  treated  as  a  criminal,  etc.",  thus  so  framing 
the  law  that  in  case,  as  it  was  first  held  under  such  acts  in 
Pennsylvania  in  1902,  that  a  child  having  reached  the  age  of 
reason  could  not  be  treated  as  a  delinquent  and  different  from 
others,  the  juvenile  act  could  still  be  sustained  and  the  other 
good  provisions,  such  as  probation,  etc.,  availed  of  for  the  good 
of  the  child.  The  juvenile  courts  in  Chicago,  Denver  and  other 
cities  followed  the  chancery  idea  in  dealing  with  delinquents 
as  it  did  with  dependents  and  in  recent  cases  in  Pennsylvania, 
Illinois  and  Utah,  the  Supreme  Courts  of  those  states  have  sus- 
tained the  chancery  theory  and  all  new  laws  or  amendments 
should  be  framed  exclusively  on  the  theory  declared  in  these 
acts.    It  is  believed  this  is  now  settled  for  all  time. 

THE  PROBATION  OFFICER.— The  work  of  the  court 
in  dealing  with  the  child  must  necessarily  be  done  mostly  by 
the  probation  officer.  One  who  is  a  good  school  teacher  is 
generally  well  equipped  for  the  work  of  probation  officer.  Yet 
any  good  average  man  or  woman  who  understands  the  spirit 
of  the  juvenile  court,  and  who  can  be  firm,  and  yet  kind,  may 
develop  into  a  good  probation  officer.  The  most  important 
work  is  the  attitude  of  this  officer  toward  the  child.  Success 
must  largely  depend,  not  on  the  law,  but  the  kindly,  tactful, 
patient  and  yet  firm  manner  to  which  not  only  the  child,  but 
also  the  home,  parents  and  others  are  approached.  The  time 
will  no  doubt  come  when  probation  officers  will  be  trained 
after  a  system  somewhat  similar  to  that  being  adopted  in 
schools  of  philanthropy  for  the  training  of  philanthropic  work- 
ers, or  in  a  normal  school  for  the  training  of  teachers. 

The  probation  officers  in  Colorado  are  appointed 
by  the  judge  of  the  court.  Any  number  of  volun- 
teers may  be  appointed.  In  cases,  however,  where  the 
officer  receives  a  salary  from  the  county,  the  ap- 
pointment may  be,  as  in  Colorado,  for  instance,  submit- 
ted to  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections,  and  that 
board  pass  upon  the  qualifications  of  the  appointee  before  it  is 
confirmed.  Where  there  is  no  such  board,  it  may  be  consti- 
tuted of  persons  like  the  Superintendent  of  Schools,  the  Com- 
missioner of  Charities  and  Corrections,  or  similar  officials.  In 
large  cities  like  Chicago,  the  probation  officers  who  receive  pay 


JUVENILE   COURT  LAWS.   ETC.  9 

from  the  County  must  qualify  by  civil  service  examination. 
This  has  never  been  suggested  except  for  very  large  cities. 
The  purpose  of  these  suggestions  have  been  to  keep  this  work 
out  of  politics,  and  to  secure  men  and  women  as  probation 
officers  who  are  qualified  for  the  work  and  who  are  doing  it 
because  they  have  the  temperament  and  the  spirit  for  it,  and 
not  merely  to  draw  the  salary  that  may  be  attached  to  such 
a  position.  This  paper  more  particularly  deals  with  juvenile 
legislation.    Able  papers  on  the  subject  of  probation  have  been 

I  written  by  Hon.  C.  T.  Lewis,  Hastings  H.  Hart,  Hon.  T.  D. 
Hurley  and  Hon.  Julian  W.  Mack  of  Chicago  and  others,  and 
may  be  had  by  applying  to  the  last  two  gentlemen  in  Chicago, 
or  the  secretary  of  the  National  Conference  of  Charities  and 
Corrections,  105  E.  22nd  St.,  New  York  City.  The  Problem 
of  the  Children,  containing  papers  on  the  subject,  may  be  had 
from  the  Juvenile  Court  of  Denver. 

DEFINITION  OF  DELINQUENCY.— The  definition 
of  delinquency  has  been  made  very  broad  and  liberal.  The 
primary  purpose  of  this  is  to  enable  the  court  to  assist  in  pre- 
venting, as  far  as  possible,  those  habits  in  childhood  and  youth 
that  if  persisted  in  may  lead  to  criminality  or  undesirable  cit- 
izenship. Thus  the  court  literally  prevents  crime.  Its  pur- 
pose also  is,  in  connection  with  the  contributory  law  relating  to 
adults,  to  hold  to  a  rigid  accountability  all  men  and  women 
who  may  by  any  act  cause  or  encourage  delinquency  or  de- 
pendency. In  this  respect  the  definitions  of  juvenile  depend- 
ency and  delinquency  must  be  read  in  connection  with  the  defini- 
tion of  contributory  dependency  and  delinquency  in  order  that 
these  purposes  may  be  appreciated.  The  state  has  undertaken 
to  protect  its  children  by  making  all  persons  legally  responsible 
for  their  moral  welfare,  where  such  responsibiirty  may  be  fairly 
and  reasonably  exacted  and  enforced;  for  instance,  if  a  child 
goes  to  a  saloon,  we  say  he  is  "delinquent,"  as  defined  by  Sec- 
tion 1  of  the  juvenile  delinquency  act.  The  man  whojent  it 
to  the  saloon,  or  who  permitted  it  to  remain  in' tlie  place,  can 
he  held  for  "contributory  delinquency."  It  will  be  seen  also  that 
it  is  not  even  a  term  of  opprobrium  or  reproach.  Perhaps  the 
child  even  did  right  in  going  there  if  sent  by  a  parent.  He  is  not 
charged  with  being  a  criminal,  but  that  he  has  entered  a  con- 
dition, environment  or  state  of  delinquency,  and    unless    the 


10  JUVENILE  COURT  DAWS.   ETC. 

State  interferes  to  take  him  out  of  the  bad  environment  to 
which  he  is  subjected  and  correct  those  who  are  causing  or 
encouraging  it,  it  may  lea  J  to  making  him  a  criminal  or 
weakling.  No  child  could  be  taken  away  from  its  parents  or 
put  in  an  institution  for  this  or  similar  reasons  unless  the  par- 
ents were  given  first  a  chance  to  correct  it  and  it  was  shown 
that  the  parents  were  incompetent  to  care  for  it.  Throughout 
the  proceeding  their  rights  are  protected  by  the  court.  So  like- 
wise many  examples  could  be  given  as  in  case  of  a  girl  if  she 
is  taken  to  a  wineroom  or  other  disreputable  resort ;  the  person 
taking  her  there  or  the  person  even  letting  her  in  the  place, 
would  be  guilty  of  contributory  delinquency  and  she  would  be 
delinquent,  not  criminal,  and  dealt  with  in  the  chancery  court, 
as  the  juvenie  court  has  always  been  intended  to  be  in  dealing 
with  the  child. 

BRIEF  HISTORY  OF  JUVENILE  LAWS.— It  will  be 
found  in  examining  juvenile  court  laws  that  in  so  far  as  law 
is  concerned  they  are  based  on  principles  that  by  no  means  all 
originated  with  the  so-called  juvenile  court,  as  many  seem  to 
think.  Some  of  these  principles  may  be  considered  briefly.  The 
first  is  probation ;  that  is,  suspending  any  final  judgment  in  the 
case  and  permitting  the  offender  to  have  a  chance  to  overcome 
his  weakness  or  mistake  by  co-operating  with  the  state  to  that 
end  through  its  probation  officers,  or  as  in  the  juvenile  court, 
through  such  natural  agencies  in  addition  to  the  work  of  that 
officer  as  the  home  and  the  school.  It  is  really  a  method  of 
teaching  or  permitting  one  to  "overcome  evil  with  good."  One 
on  probation  has  not  been  committed  or  detained  in  any  insti- 
tution. Parole  differs  from  probation,  in  that  one  on  parole 
under  somewhat  similar  circumstances  is  supposed  to  have  been 
originally  committed  to  some  institution.  The  principle  of  pro- 
bation was  first  embodied  in  the  law  in  Massachusetts  about 
1869,  but  we  believe  not  very  usefully  systematized  until  about 
1876.  Separate  trials  for  children  were  first  required  by  law 
in  Massachusetts  and  New  York.  A  separate  building  for  this 
purpose  was  first  established  in  New  York  City.  Laws  forbid- 
ding placing  children  in  jails  existed  in  many  states  long  before 
the  juvenile  court  came.  The  next  important  principle  in  order 
that  was  invoked  by  these  courts  was  that  permitting  the  child 
to  be  corrected  by  the  state  in  its  capacity  of  parens,  patriae 
(regarding  the  child  as  a  ward  of  the  state),  of  acts  short  of 


JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS.   ETC.  11 

crime,  but  which  if  persisted  in  might  result  in  crime;  and  if 
it  had  committed  a  crime  permitting  its  care  and  correc- 
tion without  charging  it  with  crime.  This  was  done  by  acts 
defining  certain  conduct  of  the  child  as  disorderly  or  delinquent 
and  permitting  it  to  be  brought  into  some  constitutional  court 
of  record  for  correction,  in  which  the  scheme  of  probation  was 
directed  by  these  laws  to  be  employed.  A  special  section  was 
embodied  in  the  school  law  of  Colorado  of  April  12th,  1899, 
permitting  this  to  be~done^~s"o"tHat  it  a  child,  for  instance,  werif 
to  a  store  and  took  something  of  value  without  permission  it 
could  be  brought  to  the  county  court,  which  was  given  juris- 
diction of  such  cases,  by  a  ^petition  being  filed  by  any  person 
charging  it  with  disorderly  conduct,  but  not  necessitating  that 
it  be  either  charged  with  or  found  guilty  of  any  crime.  At 
first  the  law  was  little  understood  and  little  used,  but  the  Den- 
ver Juvenile  Coiirt  was  subsequently  established  under  it  and 
because  of  this  and  its  close  co-operation  with  the  school,  it 
was  sometimes  called  the  school  cpurt,  a  term  that  in  many 
respects  more  correctly  described  its  particular  system  of  work 
with  and  for  the  child — which  work  is  largely  educational.  In 
re-enacting  the  law  subsequently  the  acts  and  conduct  of  a  child 
described  as  disorderly  conduct  were  described  as  delinquency, 
as  they  had  been  in  the  first  law  designating  such  a  court  as  a 
juvenile  court  by  name.  This  was  the  law  of  Illinois  drawn 
by  Judge  Harvey  B.  Hurd  at  the  request  of  leading  club  women 
in  Chicago  like  Mrs.  Lucy  Flower  and  Mrs.  Stevens,  formerly 
of  Toledo,  Ohio,  and  the  Visitation  and  Aid  Society, 
Hon.  T.  D.  Hurley  and  Mr.  Hastings  H.  Hart  of 
the  same  city.  That  law  went  into  effect  June  1st, 
1899.  It  declared  that  the  circuit  court,  for  convenience, 
in  the  trial  of  children  under  the  act,  might  be  called  the 
juvenile  court  and  required  that  court  to  assign  one  of  its 
judges  to  try  such  cases.  They  assigned  Hon.  Richard  S. 
Tuthill.  In  all  other  counties  outside  of  Chicago  jurisdiction 
under  this  law  was  given  the  county  or  probate  court 
and  each  county  judge  in  Illinois  thus  became  the 
judge  of  the  juvenile  court  in  the  trial  of  children. 
But  naturally  the  city  of  Chicago,  because  of  its 
tremendous  population,  mostly  employed  the  act,.  It 
seems  to  have  been  very  little  followed  in  Illinois  for  several 


12  JUVENILfB  COURT  LAWS,   ETC. 

years  after  its  enactment  outside  of  the  city  of  Chicago.  These 
laws  permitted  the  child  to  be  corrected  in  this  manner 
by  requiring  the  chancery  court  to  treat  the  case  very  much  as 
it  had  always  treated  the  case  of  the  dependent  child  and  this 
was  the  new  principle  in  such  acts.  In  other  respects  they 
were  merely  a  sort  of  compilation  of  older  well-known 
laws  already  existing  in  the  particular  state  or  taken 
from  other  states.  But  this  is  not  said  to  minimize  their 
importance.  This  change  was  profoundly  important.  It  cer- 
tainly gave  an  impetus  to  probation  work  for  children  that  had 
been  entirely  lacking  before.  It  took  them  out  of  the  old  jail 
conditions  and  eventually  led  to  building  up  a  splendid  work 
for  children  in  Chicago,  Denver,  and  recently  nearly  all  the 
large  cities,  that  could  not  have  been  built  but  for 
this  spirit  thus  diffused  and  made  possible  by  this  law.  Its 
good  effects  and  the  credit  due  those  (good  women,  princi- 
pally) who  started  it  can  never  be  overestimated.  The  third 
new  legal  principle  was  that  holding  all  persons  legally  respon- 
sible for  the  moral  welfare  of  children  announced  in  a  statute 
generally  termed  the  "contributory  delinquent"  law  which  grew 
out  of  the  experience  and  the  work  of  the  juvenile  court  in 
Denver  and  was  first  enacted  in  Colorado  about  six  years  ago. 
The  fourth  principle  that  may  be  said  to  be  somewhat  new 
was  to  get  into  one  court  before  the  same  judge  and  the  same 
set  of  officers  all  cases  that  pertained  to  children,  and  indeed 
all  the  youths  and  minors  of  the  city,  including  those  of  adults 
who  violate  laws  for  their  protection.  This  has  reached  a 
degree  of  perfection  so  far  in  only  a  few  of  the  courts.  It 
seems  to  be  difficult  of  accomplishment  in  some  of  the  very 
large  cities  like  Chicago,  for  instance,  where,  so  far,  only  chil- 
dren are  tried  in  the  juvenile  court.  All  of  these  cases  tried 
in  one  court  has  been  of  immense  advantage  in  carrying  on  the 
fight    for  youth  and  childhood  in  the  juvenile  court  of  Denver. 

In  considering  this  brief  history  of  the  juvenile  court,  so 
far  as  laws  are  concerned,  it  is  impossible  of  course,  to  do 
credit  to  all  those  who  are  entitled  to  credit,  since  the  juvenile 
court  is  really  a  growth  with  reference  to  law  as  well  as  work, 
and  no  one  man  or  woman'  can  be  credited  with  its  origin. 
The  writer  has  always  said  that  the  women  of  this  country 
in  particular  are  responsible  for  this  court,  and  I  have  fre- 


JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,   ETC.  13 

quently  credited  some  of  them  as  mothers  of  the  juvenile 
court.  The  women's  clubs  are  entitled  to  much  credit,  and  in 
Pennsylvania  the  Mothers'  Congress,  of  which  Mrs.  Hannah 
K.  Schoif  is  the  President,  were  the  most  active  workers  for 
the  juvenile  court,  and  indeed  its  origin  in  that  part  of  the 
world  may  be  directly  attributed  to  the  work  of  Mrs.  Hannah 
K.  Schoff,  President  of  the  National  Mothers'  Congress,  which 
has  also  done  much  to  advance  and  sustain  an  effective  proba- 
tion work  in  the  state  of  Pennsylvania.  Mrs.  Schoff  has  lec- 
tured and  written  much  upon  the  subject,  having  been  the 
first  to  present  the  matter  to  the  women  of  Utah  about  four 
years  ago,  as  well  as  some  other  states.  These  good  women 
are  especially  entitled  to  credit  for  that  long,  hard  fight  they 
made  to  establish  the  equity  principle  of  the  court  in  the  state 
of  Pennsylvania,  where  it  was  first  denied  in  1902,  and  then 
affirmed  later  after  they  had  brought  into  the  state  a  number 
of  the  juvenile  judges  of  other  states,  to  present  the  matter 
correctly,  thereby  winning  the  first  victory  in  the  supreme  court 
for  the  application  of  the  equity  or  chancery  jurisdic- 
tion in  dealing  with  the  delinquent  child.  Its  far- 
reaching  effect  in  other  states  cannot  be  over-estima- 
ted, nor  can  the  credit  due  these  women  for  their 
part  in  the  fight  for  childhood,  be  too  generously  accorded. 
The  settlement  houses  like  that  of  the  University  settlements 
and  especially  Hull  House  in  Chicago,  have  done  much  for 
these  courts.  Such  work  has  been  largely  due  to  the  efforts 
of  Miss  Jane  Addams,  Mrs.  Joseph  T.  Bowen,  Miss  Julia 
Lathrop,  Miss  Minnie  F.  Lowe,  the  Visitation  and  Aid  Society 
and  others  in  Chicago.  The  help  of  all  the  settlement  houses 
and  institutional  churches  in  the  cities  is  a  most  promising  de- 
velopment in  the  w^ork  of  juvenile  courts. 

In  this  brief  pamphlet  no  attempt  can  be  made  to  give  more 
than  a  passing  reference  to  some  of  these  agencies  and  the  pro- 
gress of  the  laws  and  work.  But  a  word  must  be  said  of  the 
splendid  work  of  the  children's  courts  in  New  York  City.  They 
are  pioneers  in  work  of  this  kind.  But  there  is  an  essential 
difference  in  proceedings  in  these  courts.  In  the  children's 
courts  of  New  York  these  proceedings,  we  understand,  are  still 
of  a  criminal  character  and  are,  at  least  technically,  under  that 
jurisdiction,  though  a  splendid  system  of  probation  and  per- 


14  JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC. 

sonal  work  has  been  inauguarted  in  which  Mr.  Coulter,  clerk  of 
the  courts  as  well  as  the  judges  and  others  are  taking  a 
lively  interest.  This  court  has  always  been  assisted  by  the 
well  known  original  society  in  New  York  for  the  Prevention 
of  Cruelty  to  Children,  that  is  entitled  to  so  much  credit  for 
pioneer  work  for  children.  It  was  the  first  to  maintain,  as  it 
does  now,  the  most  elaborate  detention  home  that  exists  any- 
where in  the  world.  The  work  of  Mr.  Brace  and  the  Chil- 
dren's Aid  Society  in  this  direction  is  also  like  that  of  others 
really  too  well  known  even  to  require  any  reference  here,  fur- 
ther than  that  some  who  may  not  be  well  informed  may  know 
the  chief  sources  of  information  as  to  work  and  laws  for  the 
protection  of  children,  and  that  the  importance  of  such 
sources  may  not  be  inferred  to  be  underestimated  or  unac- 
knowledged by  the  writer.  There  are  no  abler  or  kinder 
judges  of  children's  courts  in  this  country  than  those  in  New 
York  City,  such  as  Judge  Wilkin,  Judge  Olmstead,  Judge 
Holbrook  and  others,  and  especially  former  Judge  Julius  M. 
Mayer,  who  has  added  much  in  the  way  of  literature  and  help- 
ful suggestions  in  this  work.  Indeed  the  list  of  judges  in 
both  the  children's  and  juvenile  courts  of  this  country,  who 
have  already  performed  magnificent  services,  is  so  long  that 
the  brief  character  of  the  pamphlet  upon  juvenile  courts  can 
not  well  attempt  the  personal  reference  to  which  they  are  all 
so  honorably  entitled.  One  of  the  most  effective  schemes  of 
probation  work  is  to  be  found  in  the  "Big  Brother"  movement 
that  is  being  systematized  by  Mr.  Coulter  and  others  in  New 
York.  It  is  extending  the  excellent  idea  of  enlisting  one  young 
man  as  a  probation  worker  to  become  interested  in  one  boy 
in  the  Juvenile  Court  limiting  his  efforts  to  the  one  case. 
Over  one  thousand  young  men  have  so  far  contributed  to  this 
w^ork  and  various  men's  church  organizations  in  particular  are 
taking  it  up  with  good  results,  according  to  the  reports  we 
have. 

ITS  REAL  SIGNIFICANCE.  Perhaps  the  real  signifi- 
cance of  the  juvenile  court  movement  in  America  has  not  been 
so  much  the  spread  of  law,  or  anything  new  in  law,  as  the 
spread  of  the  spirit  involved  in  regarding  every  boy  or  girl 
brought  to  court  as  one  to  be  saved,  to  be  strengthened,  under- 
stood, helped  and  not  hurt  or  degraded.  To  know,  for  instance. 


JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC.  15 

how  to  get  the  truth  out  of  offenders  through  sympathy  and 
understanding;  to  make  them  obedient  to  the  law  whether  it 
be  the  law  of  the  home,  the  neighborhood,  the  school  or  the 
state ;  to  know  how  to  teach  them  to  be  trusted  even  to  going 
alone  to  institutions  unattended  because  we  have  been  able  to 
convince  them  that  we  are  absolutely  just,  that  we  are 
working  for  them  and  not  against  them,  and  because 
they  have  been  taught  tp  be  willing  to  want  to  get 
strong  enough  in  character  to  want  to  do  right  because 
it  is  right — to  do  this  because  they  want  to  and  not  so  much 
because  they  have  tOi  In  a  word  the  juvenile  courts  mark  the 
employment  by  courts  of  the  divine  instruments  in  the  build- 
ing of  human  characteri  These,  of  course,  are  the  wise  and 
proper  use  of  sympathy/  that  is  not  permitted  to  be  confused 
with  justification  of  any  wrong,  patience,  kindness  and  yet 
the  firmness  that  yields  respect  and  not  hate.  These  are  all  more 
significant  than  any  law.  Thus  we  are  gradually  building  up  for 
the  benefit  of  the  children  of  the  state  a  more  scientific  and  sys- 
tematic scheme  for  their  correction  and  protection,  which,  as 
to  the  child,  means  literally  education  and  character  building 
through  the  law  of  love  that  does  not  overlook  justice,  for 
there  is  no  real  love  without  justice.  This  of  course  does 
not  mean  to  tolerate  sentimentality  any  more  than  brutality. 
It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  then  that  the  real  law  of  the  juven- 
ile court  and  the  qualities  for  its  successful  application  will  not 
be  found  in  statute  books  alone,  however  complete  they  may  be 
as  to  so-called  juvenile  court  laws,  or  where  they  originated  or 
who  is  responsible  for  them. 

AN  INTERESTING  DEVELOPMENT.     A  significant 
fact  in  connection  with  this  work  for  children  and  as  showing 
that  the  law  without  the  spirit  availeth  nothing,  is,  that  Jn  a 
number  of  states,  believing  they  needed  juvenile  court  laws,  ■/ 
big  hearted  judges  have  become  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  this 
work  and  found  ample  authority  under  laws  already  existing  | 
in  their  respective  states,  together  with  their  inherent  chan-'i 
eery  powers,  or  right  to  suspend  sentences  or  continue  cases,  A 
to  do  work  for  erring  children  or  youth  that  compares  favor- 
ably with  that  of  judges  who  are  equipped  with  elaborate  laws. 
No  doubt  such  work  of  an  intermittent  or  spasmodic  char- 
acter has  been  done  by  many  judges  before  the  juvenile  court 


16  JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC. 

ever  came  as  a  systematic  scheme.  One  of  the  most  notable 
instances  of  systematic  work  of  this  kind  by  a  judge,  not  only 
handicapped  by  the  lack  of  sufficient  juvenile  laws  but  also  phy- 
sical affliction,  is  Judge  N.  B.  Feagin,  of  Birmingham,  Ala- 
bama, who  has  been  judge  of  one  of  the  municipal  courts  in 
that  city  for  a  decade  or  more  and  who  for  five  or  six  years 
has  conducted  a  splendid  juvenile  court. 

EXAGGERATED  DANGERS.  The  fear  so  often  ex- 
pressed by  many  that  the  judges  of  the  courts  will  not  take 
the  interest  necessary  in  the  children's  cases  is  in  the  judgment 
of  the  writer  very  much  exaggerated.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
when  there  is  a  demand  for  such  work  the  supply  will  come. 
Judges  of  courts  as  a  rule  become  imbued  with  the  spirit  of 
the  juvenile  law  and  very  little  is  known  of  the  splendid  work 
of  this  character  that  is  being  and  has  been  for  years  quietly 
done  by  the  judges  of  our  courts  of  record  in  many 
cities  and  states.  If  the  entire  number  was  known  it 
would  be  surprising  and  overcome  much  of  these  unnecessary 
fears.  The  juvenile  court  in  some  form  or  other  now  exists 
in  the  majority  of  the  states  and  in  nearly  all  of  the  large 
cities.  What  these  judges  most  need  is  help  and  support  in 
their  local  communities.  In  most  instances  they  are  doing 
their  part.  Again  where  they  may  be  deficient  in  those  qualities 
necessary  to  successful  dealing  with  the  child,  their  efforts  may 
be  supplemented  by  the  services  of  the  probation  officer,  and 
these  officials  must  necessarily  do  most  of  the  personal  work 
w^ith  the  children,  including  visitation  of  homes,  neighbor- 
hoods, etc. 

THE  SCHOOLS.  The  judge  in  the  court  may  not  only 
be  greatly  assisted  by  the  schools  as  has  been  the  case  in  Den- 
ver and  other  cities,  but  he  may  also  greatly  assist  the 
schools,  as  has  been  pointed  out  in  detail  in  papers  on  this  sub- 
ject in  "The  Problem  of  the  Children,'*  a  little  booklet  by  the 
writer.  Business  men  and  churches  and  other  agencies  like 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  may  also  render  much  assistance,  as  they  have 
in  many  cities. 

DECISIONS  OF  COURTS.  The  following  cases  as  to 
the  law  may  be  examined  with  interest : 

In  re  Harry  Benson  62  Cent.  Law  Journal,  page  219 
(1906),    (and  numerous  authorities  there  cited).     Ex-parte 


JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS.  ETC.  17 


Loving,  178  Mo.,  194  (1903).  Mills  vs.  Brown,  88  Pac,  609 
(Feb.,  1907),  Utah.  Commonwealth  vs.  Fisher,  62  Atl.,  198 
(1905).  Re  The  Milwaukee  Industrial  School,  40  Wis.,  328 
(1905).  Farham  vs.  Pierce,  141  Mass.,  203.  State  vs.  Home 
Society,  10  N.  Dak.,  493.  Reynolds  vs.  Howe,  51  Conn.,  472. 
Ex  Parte  Liddell,  93  Cal.,  633.  Ex  Parte  Nichol,  110  Cal., 
651.  State  vs.  Phillips,  73  Minn.,  77.  In  re  Mason,  3  Wash., 
609.  In  re  Kelly,  152  Mass.,  432.  State  vs.  Kilvington,  41 
L.  R.  A.  284.     Matter  of  Knowack,  158  N.  Y.  482. 

THE  DETENTION  SCHOOL.  In  the  large  towns 
and  cities  a  detention  home  school  should  be  provided  for  the 
temporary  care  and  custody  of  dependents  and  delinquents. 
It  is  very  necessary  and  has  been  called  the  right  arm  of  dis- 
cipline of  the  court.  It  need  not  be  very  expensive,  except  in 
large  cities  where  there  should  of  course  be  a  permanent  build- 
ing for  this  purpose,  as  in  New  York  and  Chicago.  In  the 
smaller  towns  and  cities  it  has  been  found  that  a  residence 
house  can  be  rented  and  someone  who  has  had  experience  in 
teaching  and  handling  children,  preferably  a  man  and  his  wife, 
can  be  placed  in  charge  with  one  or  two  employes  such  as  a 
cook  and  helper  about  the  house.  The  juvenile  law  generally  di- 
rects how  these  children  should  be  cared  for  in  so  for  as  their 
detention  is  concerned.  It  then  becomes  the  duty  of  the  legis- 
lature by  separate  enactment  to  provide  for  such  a  detention 
home,  or  they  may  be  maintained  by  the  county  authorities  or 
city  councils.  State  industrial  schools  exist  in  most  of  the 
states,  and  if  they  do  not  exist,  they  should  be  established 
by  separate  acts.  Cities  may  pass  ordinances  providing  for 
detention  homes  or  other  industrial  schools  for  the  large  cities. 
In  the  country  or  sparsely  settled  districts  where  the  child  is 
apprehended  it  has  been  found  that  the  Sheriff  is  generally 
able  to  provide  separate  quarters  for  the  child,  sometimes  keep- 
ing it  in  his  own  family  under  the  supervision  of  his  wife  or 
some  member  of  his  household.  Again  in  the  country  dis- 
tricts the  evils  of  the  jail  that  resulted  in  the  debauchery  of  so 
many  children  are  not  so  generally  encountered. 

CRIMINAL  CHILDREN.  Discretion  is  vested  in  the 
court  by  a  section  of  the  juvenile  delinquent  act  to  direct 
a  criminal  prosecution  under  the  statutes  of  the  state  within 
the  discretion  of  the  judge,  which,  of  course,  is  only  used  in 
vicious    or    depraved    cases    of    criminality,    and    is    seldom 


18  JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC. 

necessary  with  boys  or  girls  coming  within  the  ages  of  deh'n- 
quents.  This  elastic  provision  will  avoid  any  abuse  of  the 
statute  in  differentiating  between  the  child  who  is  merely  mis- 
directed and  mislead  and  the  older  boy  who  has  become  vicious 
or  depraved.  In  the  interest  of  the  greater  number  of  children 
such  clause  should  be  resorted  to  in  exceptional  cases. 

OFFICERS  FILING  PETITIONS.  In  the  smaller 
counties  where  there  are  no  probation  officers,  and  a  County 
Attorney  or  Deputy  County  Attorney,  this  officer  (as  well  as 
any  citizen)  may  file  the  petitions  or  complaints,  but  when 
doing  so  he  does  so  as  an  officer  of  the  chancery  court  and 
not  as  an  officer  of  the  criminal  court.  In  order  to  bring  the 
information  to  the  attention  of  the  court  relating  to  the  de- 
pendency or  delinquency  of  the  child  it  is  considered  best  to 
entitle  the  paper  doing  this,  a  ^'petition,"  although  the  name  is 
not  material.  At  least  as  a  matter  of  sentiment,  the  informa- 
tion filed  in  court  would  better  not  be  entitled  by  the  terms 
ordinarily  used  in  criminal  cases. 

POWERS  OF  PROBATION  OFFICERS.  Provision 
is  made  in  the  juvenile  bills  here  recommended  whereby  power 
is  conferred  upon  the  probation  officer  who  receives  pay  from 
the  county  to  make  arrests  and  also  to  file  complaints  or  in- 
formations in  court  against  any  person  guilty  of  contributory 
dependency  or  contributory  delinquency.  There  are  believed 
to  be  many  advantages  in  these  features.  It  frequently  be- 
comes necessary  for  the  officer  to  have  such  power  and  in 
some  cities  where  there  is  a  certain  kind  of  bad  politics  and 
the  police  department  or  the  district  attorney  do  not  always 
willingly  enforce  these  laws  for  the  protection  of  the  youth 
of  the  community  such  provisions  have  been  a  powerful  aid  Lo 
effective  and  efficient  work  in  the  probation  department  of 
the  juvenile  court. 

SUSPENDED  SENTENCES.  Very  broad  provisions  are 
made  as  to  conditions  for  suspended  sentences  in  cases  of  adults 
found  guilty  of  contributory  dependency  or  contributory  delin- 
quency. Ample  power  is  also  given  to  require  such  offenders 
where  parents  to  support  their  children,  even  though  they  may 
be  in  an  institution.  The  purpose  of  all  these  provisions  is  ap- 
parent. There  is  nothing  in  these  laws  to  encourage  some 
parents  to  shirk  and  put  their  responsibilities  on  the  state  by 


JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC.  19 

seeking  to  have  their  children  committed  to  institutions.  On 
the  contrary,  the  law  is  framed  for  just  the  opposite  effect. 
These  provisions  have  worked  very  satisfactorily  in  Colorado 
where  they  have  been  longest  in  force  and  so  far  as  we  have 
learned  when  wisely  and  properly  applied  have  given  satis- 
faction in  other  jurisdictions. 

THE  FEE  SYSTEM.  Provision  is  made  forbidding 
court  officers  to  collect  any  fees  in  children's  cases  unless  the 
cases  are  filed  in  pursuance  to  the  juvenile  act  and  indeed  no 
fee  should  be  allowed  to  be  collected  at  all  where  that  can 
be  done,  since  the  fee  system  may  become  a  pernicious  inter- 
ference in  a  juvenile  court  and  where  that  very  pernicious  sys- 
tem exists  care  should  be  taken  that  it  is  not  allowed  to  inflict 
its  evils  in  this  court. 

COMMITTING  DELINQUENTS.  Good  industrial 
schools  conducted  like  those  to  be  found  in  some  of  the 
states,  are  much  better  for  the  training  and  the  care 
of  delinquents  than  the  street,  and  that  bad  environment  that 
may  lead  them  into  crime  in  spite  of  the  probation  work  of  the 
court.  When  this  is  apparent,  there  should  be  no  hesitation  in 
committing  the  boy  or  girl.  These  institutions  have  been  blamed 
for  a  great  many  things  for  which  they  are  not  responsible.  Sev-  \ 
enty-five  to  eighty  per  cent  of  the  boys  committed  to  the  up-to-  ': 
date  industrial  schools  are  turning  out  to  be  good  citizens, 
while  probably  nearly  all  of  those  who  ought  to  be  there  and 
are  permitted  to  remain  in  their  old  environment  are  drifting 
into  criminality.  These  industrial  schools  are  not  what  was 
known  as  the  old  reform  school  of  ten  or  twenty  years  ago. 
Their  methods  are  educational  rather  than  punitive,  and  such 
an  institution  should  exist  in  every  state  and  near  every 
large  city.  It  is  very  unfair  to  these  schools  to  as- 
sume that  because  a  boy  apprehended  may  have  been 
an  inmate  that  the  school  was  in  any  way  respon- 
sible. This  may  be  so  in  rare  instances,  but  such  conditions 
are  generally  in  spite  of  the  school  and  not  because  of  it.  If 
a  boy  apprehended  has  been  in  such  an  institution  that  fact  is 
always  seized  upon  in  the  newspaper  account,  but  as  a  rule,  it 
is  just  as  reasonable  to  charge  the  result  to  this  school  as  it 
is  to  charge  it  to  the  Sunday  School,  the  public  school  or  any 
other    school    in    which    the    ten    or    fifteen    years    of    his 


20  JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS.  ETC. 

formatic  period  have  been  passed.  The  one  or  two 
years  in  the  average  industrial  school  is  frequently  all 
too  short  a  period  to  straighten  or  strengthen  an 
image  that  has  been  weakened  by  years  of  bad  homes  or  bad 
environment.  I  am  convinced  after  seven  years  of  observa- 
tion in  this  respect  that  more  mistakes  are  made  in  not  com- 
mitting boys  and  girls  to  industrial  schools  than  in  committing 
them  there,  and,  as  a  rule,  when  such  a  one  should  be  com- 
mitted there  is  no  better  service  to  be  performed  by  the 
court.  These  schools  when  properly  conducted,  as  most  of  them 
are,  through  their  splendid  superintendents,  are  doing  a  service 
to  the  state  that  is  poorly  appreciated.  The  girl  problem  is  large- 
ly a  sex  problem,  and  I  do  not  recall  having  ever  committed  a 
girl  to  such  an  institution  unless  I  believed  she  was  weak  in 
this  respect  and  in  a  proper  case  I  do  not  hesitate  to  make  such 
commitment  as  being  the  very  best  thing  for  the  girl,  since  a 
larger  proportion  of  them  are  reformed  than  is  generally  sup- 
posed. I  know,  personally,  of  some  women  who  have  come 
from  such  institutions  afterwards  to  become  good  wives 
and  good  mothers,  and  in  a  number  of  cases,  profes- 
sional nurses  or  useful  helpers  in  the  very  work  that  re- 
sulted in  their  own  salvation.  Of  course,  it  must  not  be  under- 
stood that  all  girls  in  such  institutions  are  there  for  sex  in- 
discretions or  misfortunes.  Many  are  unfortunate  in  other 
particulars  and  in  either  event  are  entitled  to  the  greatest  sym- 
pathy and  help. 

New  York  is  particularly  fortunate  in  having  the  George 
Junior  Republic  at  Freeville  for  both  boys  and  girls.  This  is 
not  a  state  institution,  but  an  independent  self-governing  com- 
munity, doing  perhaps  the  best  work  in  the  country  in  leading 
delinquent  boys  and  girls  into  good  citizenship  through  the 
development  of  their  self-control  and  sense  of  personal  re- 
sponsibility. Would  that  each  state  had  a  Republic  and  a  Wm. 
R.  George. 

JUVENILE  COURTS  IN  SMALL  TOWNS  OR 
COUNTIES.  Certainly  much  good  and  no  harm  can  come 
in  making  the  juvenile  court  law  state  wide,  especially  where 
there  is  a  county  or  probate  court  system  in  each  county,  and 
this  court  may  be  designated  as  the  juvenile  court.     Indeed  a 


JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC.  21 

very  determined  fight  was  at  one  time  waged  in  the  state  of 
Missouri  against  the  constitutionaHty  of  the  juvenile  court  be- 
cause it  did  not  apply  to  all  the  counties  and  merely  cared  for 
city  children  and  was,  therefore,  class  legislation.  In  this  fight 
the  court  had  a  narrow  escape.  So  that  not  only  from  the 
legal  standpoint,  but  from  that  of  fair  dealing,  as  far  as  prac- 
ticable, the  juvenile  court  system,  in  the  opinion  of  the  writer, 
should  be  permissive  in  every  county,  city  or  town.  If  there 
is  only  one  or  two  children  to  be  dealt  with  in  each  year  or  at 
each  term  of  court,  those  children  are  entitled  to  whatever 
benefit  may  come  from  its  provisions.  In  Colorado  our  towns, 
especially  in  the  mining  towns  and  even  in  the  agricultural 
towns,  like  for  instance.  Cripple  Creek,  a  mining  town  of  ten 
thousand,  and  Greeley,  an  agricultural  town  of  perhaps  the 
same  number,  the  county  judge,  being  the  juvenile  judge,  has 
been  able  greatly  to  assist  the  schools  and  protect  many  boys 
and  girls  from  drifting  into  a  life  of  crime,  and  where  they 
have  become  delinquent,  to  apply  with  gratifying  results  the 
probation  system  in  most  cases.  Superintendents  of  schools, 
court  officials  and  citizens,  we  believe,  will  generally  unite  in 
testifying  to  the  efficiency  and  necessity  of  the  court  in  a  small 
town.  I  recall  a  case  in  Colorado  in  one  town  of  about  twelve 
hundred  people,  where  the  county  judge  and  the  very  active 
principal  of  the  schools,  acting  as  probation  officer,  were  the 
means  of  restoring  to  good  citizenship  a  gang  of  little  fellows, 
who  were  fast  becoming  criminals  of  a  "^dangerous  type,  and 
who  could  not  have  been  apprehended  until  they  had  already 
reached  that  stage  had  it  not  been  for  the  provisions  of  the 
juvenile  act. 

THE  PHYSICIAN  IN  THE  COURT.  In  addition  to 
that  co-operation  that  comes  through  school  teachers,  who  may 
materially  help  the  school  probationers,  and  the  business 
man  who  may  materially  help  with  juveniles  out  of  employ- 
ment, no  more  important  help  can  be  rendered  the  court  than 
some  kindly  disposed  physician  or  physicians  who  may  be  wil- 
ling to  co-operate  with  it.  It  will  frequently  be  found  to  be 
of  great  advantage  to  send  children  of  certain  types  to  the 
doctor  for  professional  examination.  Some  minor  surgical 
operation  or  advice  from  this  source  is  very  helpful  to  many 
children  afflicted  with  evil  habits  and  disposed  to  criminal 


22  JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC. 

tendencies.  In  our  own  experience  we  have  found  the  services 
of  a  speciahst  in  eye,  ear,  nose  and  throat  troubles,  an  ahenist 
or  speciahst  in  nervous  diseases,  a  surgeon  and  a  general  prac- 
titioner to  be  of  inestimable  value.  It  will  generally  be  found 
that  there  are  splendid  men  in  this  profession  who  will  very 
gladly  assist  the  court  and  the  probation  officer  when  requested 
There  are  many  boys  who  need  the  services  of  the  doctor  more 
than  they  do  that  of  the  jailer. 

METHOD  OF  TRIALS.  There  should  be  as  little  pub:--. 
Jicity  as  possible  in  the  trial  of  children.  Except  in  trivial 
cases  in  our  own  work  the  parties  all  come  into  the  judge's 
chambers,  the  stories  of  parents,  officers  and  children  are  all 
listened  to  in  a  very  informal  but  dignified  manner ;  that  cold- 
ness and  rather  unnatural  condition  for  a  child  that  comes  from 
formal  court  procedure  should  be  dispensed  with  as  far  as 
possible.  It  is  responsible  in  most  cases  for  the  common  dis- 
position of  the  average  boy  to  lie  or  conceal  important  facts 
unless  he  knows  they  are  actually  in  the  possession  of  the  of- 
ficer. At  some  stage  of  the  proceeding,  especially  where  there 
is  any  question  about  the  truth,  the  child  should  be  talked  to 
alone  by  the  judge.  In  doing  this  he  should  be  put  at  ease  and 
relieved  of  all  fear  by  a  companionable  kindly  talk.  Unless 
facts  are  known  it  is,  as  a  rule,  more  or  less  common  (because 
generally  of  the  false  attitude  of  parents  and  others),  for 
children  to  Jie  in  the  presence  of  their  parents.  They  are 
niucH  more  candid  when  alone.  Especially  is  this  true  with 
girls,  who  will  very  seldom  tell  the  truth  in  the  presence  of 
the  mother,  especially  w^here  the  mother  has  persisted,  as  she 
usually  does,  in  the  innocence  of  the  child,  who  has  generally 
been  frightened  because  of  the  wounded  pride  and  mortifica- 
tion that  might  afflict  the  vanity  of  some  parent. 

PARENTS.  As  a  rule  cautions  to  the  parent  as  to  their 
responsibility  and  any  blame  placed  upon  them  should  be  dis- 
cussed between  the  judge  and  the  parent  out  of  the  hearing  of 
the  child.  The  court's  duty  is  not  to  usurp  the  function  of  the 
parent,  but  to  see  that  the  parent  properly  performs  it  when 
the  child  under  the  laws  of  the  land  comes  legally  under  its 
jurisdiction.    In  all  such  cases  parental  right  must  be  respected. 

NEWSPAPERS.  The  newspapers  may,  unintention- 
ally perhaps,  do  a  great  deal  of  harm  to  the  juvenile  court, 


JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,   ETC.  23 

and  those  brought  before  it,  by  the  indiscreet  publication  of 
cases  in  which  the  names  of  boys  are  given,  and  this  becomes 
positively  fiendish  when  a  girl's  name  is  published.  Every 
effort  should  be  made  by  kindly  consultation  to  get  news- 
papers to  co-operate  to  prevent  this.  They  can  often  print 
stories  without  using  names.  A  law  ought  to  forbid  such  pub- 
lications. No  agency  more  than  the  press  has  popularized  and 
approved  the  juvenile  court,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  they  will 
make  a  small  concession  to  its  successful  operation  by  re- 
fraining from  publishing  the  names  (and  indeed  if  possible 
the  proceedings)  of  children  in  the  court. 

DIFFICULTIES  AND  SUGGESTIONS.  The  work 
of  the  juvenile  court  will  not  be  understood  all  at  once.  There 
will  be  discouragements  and  failures  both  as  to  laws  and 
work.  The  best  laws  drawn  have  had  to  be  amended  time 
and  again,  and  may  have  to  be  amended  again  and  ais^ain 
until  a  perfect  system  is  devised.  The  bills  presented  in  this 
pamphlet  are  the  latest  of  their  kind  in  a  general  way.  Per- 
fection is  not  claimed  for  them.  Neither  will  the  work  to  be 
done  be  thoroughly  understood  until  after  some  experience. 
Mistakes  are  bound  to  be  made,  for  no  law  or  system  is  per- 
fect until  after  an  active  experience  under  it.  It  is  now  con- 
ceded that  we  are  on  the  right  track  through  this  method,  and 
if  difficulties  come  it  will  not  be  from  the  system  itself,  but 
from  misunderstanding  and  mis-applying  it,  just  as  such  dif- 
ficulties might  come  from  any  law.  The  juvenile  court  is  not 
a  cure  all.  It  does  not  pretend  to  do  all  the  work  necessary  to 
correct  children  or  to  prevent  crime.  It  is  offered  as  a  far 
superior  method  to  that  of  the  old  criminal  court  system  of 
dealing  with  the  thing  rather  than  the  child.  That  method 
was  more  or  less  brutal.  The  juvenile  court  system  has 
a  danger  in  becoming  one  of  leniency,  but  as  between  this 
method  and  that  of  the  criminal  court,  it  is  much  to  be  pre- 
ferred. But  the  dangers  of  leniency  as  well  as  those  of  brutality 
can  be  avoided  in  most  cases.  Juvenile  Court  workers  must  not 
be  sentimentalists  any  more  than  brutalists.  In  short,  the 
idea  is  a  system  of  probation  work,  whiclK  contemplates 
co-operation  with  the  child,  the  home,  the  school,  the 
neighborhood,  the  church  and  the  business  man  in  its 
interests  and  that  of  the   state.     Its   purpose  is   to   help   all 


24  JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC. 

it  can  and  to  hurt  as  little  as  it  can ;  it  seeks  to  build  character 
— to  make  good  citizens  rather  than  useless  criminals.  The 
state  is  thus  helping  itself  as  well  as  the  child,  for  the  good  of 
the  child  is  the  good  of  the  state. 

TRiyiAL  CASES.  While  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  is 
broad  in  order  to  protect  the  child,  it  is  very  seldom  that  trivial 
cases  should  be  brought  into  court.  They  are  generally  settled 
as  they  should  be,  out  of  court,  by  the  probation  officer.  There 
is  nearly  always  someone  in  every  community  who  will  act 
as  a  voluntary  probation  officer,  even  if  there  be  no  salary  pro- 
vided for  the  place  to  assist  the  court  in  such  cases.  The 
work  in  the  juvenile  court  is  of  more  importance  than  the 
law,  but  the  work  cannot  be  done  unless  the  law  is  back  of 
the  workers. 

LITERATURE.  Literature  relating  to  the  laws  and 
work  of  the  juvenile  court  may  be  had  from  various  sources, 
and  among  those  best  known  is  the  Juvenile  Court  Record, 
Unity  Building,  Chicago,  a  monthly  publication  devoted  to 
this  work,  which  publishes  a  little  booklet,  recently  issued  by 
Hon.  T.  D.  Hurley,  upon  the  Juvenile  Court  Laws  of  Illinois, 
with  blank  forms  used.  There  are  to  be  had  in  printed  form 
able  addresses  upon  the  subject  delivered  by  Judge  Stubbs  of 
the  Juv^enile  Court  of  Indianapolis,  Judge  Heuisler  of  the 
Juvenile  Court  of  Baltimore,  and  Judges  Tuthill  and  Mack  of 
the  Juvenile  Court  of  Chicago.  Much  literature  has  also  been 
sent  out  from  the  Juvenile  Court  of  Denver,  and  a  little  book  en- 
titled *'The  Problem  of  the  Children,"  containing  explanations 
of  the  workings  of  the  Juvenile  Court,  especially  with  refer- 
ence to  administrative  work  with  children,  and  various  reports 
and  pamphlet  addresses  of  the  Judge  of  the  Denver  Court  may 
he  had.  The  philanthropic  publication.  "Charities  and  Com- 
mons," 105  East  22nd  street.  New  York  City,  has  devoted 
much  service  to  this  cause  and  has  published  several  special 
numbers,  dealing  almost  entirely  with  the  juvenile  court,  its 
purposes,  its  laws,  etc.,  which  no  doubt  may  be  had  upon  ap- 
plication to  their  office  in  New  York  City.  The  Juvenile  Court 
Record  of  Chicago  (Unity  Building)  is  an  able  and  helpful 
publication  devoted  especially  to  juvenile  courts  and  probation. 
No  one  publication  has  done  so  much  for  juvenile  courts. 


JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC.  25 

Forms  of  bills  suggested  for  establishing  what  is  known  as 
the  work  of  the  Juvenile  Courts.     It  will  be  understood,  of  j, 
course,  that  these  bills  may  have  to  be  materially  modified  in 
details  zvith  reference  to  the  particular  states  in  which  they  are 
adopted. 

The  bills  that  follow  are  suggested  as  the  most  recent 
forms  of  bills  defining  juvenile  delinquency  and  dependency, 
and  establishing  the  probation  system  for  the  correction  and 
protection  of  children.  Where  it  is  necessary  some  provisions 
as  to  certain  details  may  be  modified  or  changed  to  conform  to 
different  conditions  in  different  jurisdictions. 

JUVENILE  COURT  LAW  SUGGESTED  FOR  THE 
STATE  OF  OKLAHOMA. 

A  Bill  for  an  Act  Relatino-  to  Children  Who  Are  Now  or  May 
Hereafter  Become  Dependent,  Neglected  or  Delinquent, 
to  Define  These  Terms,  and  to  Provide  for  the  Treat- 
ment, Control,  Maintenance,  Protection,  Adoption  and 
Guardianship  of  the  Person  of  Such  Children. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  People  of  the  State  of  Oklahoma : 

Section  \.  Definition. — That  all  persons  under  the  age  of 
twenty-one  (21)  years,  shall,  for  the  purpose  of  this  act  only, 
be  considered  wards  of  this  state  and  their  persons  shall  be  sub- 
ject to  the  care,  guardianship  and  control  of  the  court  as  here- 
inafter provided. 

For  the  purpose  of  this  act,  the  words  "dependent  child" 
and  "neglected  child"  shall  mean  any  male  child  who  while 
under  the  age  of  seventeen  years  or  any  female  child  who  while 
under  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  for  any  reason,  is  destitute, 
homeless  or  abandoned ;  or  dependent  upon  the  public  for  sup- 
port; or  has  not  proper  parental  care  or  guardianship;  or 
habitually  begs  or  receives  alms ;  or  is  found  living  in  any  house 
of  ill-fame  or  with  any  vicious  or  disreputable  person ;  or  has 
a  home  which  by  reason  of  neglect,  cruelty  or  depravity,  on 
the  part  of  its  parents,  guardian  or  any  other  person  in  whose 
care  it  may  be,  is  an  unfit  place  for  such  a  child ;  and  any  child 
who  while  under  the  age  of  ten  (10)  years  is  found  begging, 
peddling  or  selling  any  articles  or  singing  or  playing  any  musi- 


26  JUVENILfE  COURT  DAWS,  ETC. 

cal  instrument  for  gain  upon  the  street  or  giving  any  public  en- 
tertainments or  accompanies  or  is  used  in  the  aid  of  any  person 
so  doing. 

The  words  "delinquent  child"  shall  mean  any  male  child 
who  while  under  the  age  of  seventeen  years  or  any  female  child 
who  while  under  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  violates  any  law  of 
this  state;  or  is  incorrigible,  or  knowingly  associates  with 
thieves,  vicious  or  immoral  persons ;  or  without  just  cause  and 
without  the  consent  of  its  parents,  guardian  or  custodian  ab- 
sents itself  from  its  home  or  place  of  abode,  or  is  growing  up 
in  idleness  or  crime;  or  knowingly  frequents  or  visits  a  house 
of  ill-repute;  or  knowingly  frequents  or  visits  any  policy  shop 
or  place  where  any  gaming  device  is  operated;  or  patronizes, 
visits  or  frequents  any  saloon  or  dram  shop  where  intoxicating 
liquors  are  sold;  or  patronizes  or  visits  any  public  pool  room 
where  the  game  of  pool  or  billiards  is  being  carried  on  for  pay 
or  hire;  or  who  wanders  about  the  streets  in  the  night  time 
without  being  on  any  lawful  business  or  lawful  occupation ;  or 
habitually  wanders  about  any  railroad  yards  or  tracks  or  jumps 
or  attempts  to  jump  onto  any  moving  train ;  or  enters  any  car 
or  engine  without  lawful  authority,  or  writes  or  uses  vile, 
obscene,  vulgar,  profane  or  indecent  language  or  smokes  cigar- 
ettes in  any  public  place  or  about  any  school  house ;  or  is  guilty 
of  indecent,  immoral  or  lascivious  conduct ;  any  child  commit- 
ting any  of  these  acts  shall  be  deemed  a  delinquent 
child  and  when  proceeded  against  such  proceeding  shall 
be  on  behalf  of  the  State  in  the  interest  of  the  child  and 
the  State,  with  due  regard  to  the  rights  and  duties  of  parents 
and  others,  by  petition  to  be  filed  by  any  reputable  person,  and 
to  that  end  it  shall  be  dealt  with,  protected  and  cared  for  in  the 
probate  or  chancery  court  as  a  ward  of  the  State  in  the  manner 
hereinafter  provided. 

A  disposition  of  any  child  under  this  act  or  any  evidence 
given  in  such  cause,  shall  not,  in  any  civil,  criminal  or  other 
cause  or  proceeding  whatever  in  any  court,  be  lawful  or  prop- 
er evidence  against  such  child  for  any  purpose  whatever,  except 
in  subsequent  cases  against  the  same  child  under  this  act;  nor 
shall  the  name  of  any  such  child  in  connection  with  any  pro- 
ceedings under  this  act,  be  published  in  any  newspaper,  without 
a  written  order  of  the  court.  The  word  "child"  or  "children" 
may  be  held  to  mean  one  or  more  children,  and  the  word  "par 


JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC.  27 

ent"  or  "parents"  may  be  held  to  mean  one  or  both  parents, 
when  consistent  with. the  intent  of  this  act.  The  word  "associa- 
tion" shall  include  any  association,  institution  or  corporation 
which  include  in  their  purposes  the  care  or  disposition  of  chil- 
dren, coming  within  the  meaning  of  this  act. 

Section  2.  Jurisdiction. — The  county  courts  of  the  sev- 
eral counties  in  this  state  shall  have  original  jurisdiction  in  all 
cases  coming  within  the  terms  of  this  act.  In  all  trials  under 
this  act  any  person  interested  therein  may  demand  a  jury  of  six 
or  twelve  persons  or  the  judge  of  his  own  motion  may  order  a 
jury  of  the  same  number  to  try  the  case. 

Section  3.  Juvenile  Court. — The  findings  of  the  court 
shall  be  entered  in  a  book  or  books  to  be  kept  for  that  purpose, 
and  known  as  the  "Juvenile^Record,"  and  the  court  may  for 
convenience  be  called  the  "Juvenile  Court." 

Section  4.  Petition  to  the  Court. — Any  reputable  person, 
being  a  resident  of  the  county,  may  file  with  the  clerk  of  the 
court  having  jurisdiction  of  the  matter,  a  petition  in  writing 
setting  forth  that  a  certain  child,  naming  it,  within  his  county, 
is  either  dependent,  neglected  or  delinquent  as  defined 
in  Section  1  hereof;  and  that  it  is  for  the  interest  of  the 
child  and  this  state  that  the  child  be  taken  from  its  parent, 
parents,  custodian  or  guardian  and  placed  under  the  guardian- 
ship of  some  suitable  person  to  be  appointed  by  the  court ;  and 
that  the  parent,  parents,  custodian  or  guardian  of  such  child, 
are  unfit  or  improper  guardians,  or  are  unable  or  unwilling  to 
care  for,  protect,  train,  educate,  correct,  control  or  discipline 
such  child,  or  that  the  parent, parents,  guardiian  or  custodian 
consent  that  such  child  shall  be  taken  from  them. 

The  petition  shall  also  set  forth  either  the  name,  or  that 
the  name  is  unknown  to  petitioner  (a)  of  the  person  having  the 
custody  of  such  child;  and  (b)  of  each  of  the  parents  or  the 
surviving  parent  of  a  legitimate  child ;  or  of  the  mother  of  an 
illegitimate  child;  or  (c)  if  it  allege  that  both  such  parents 
are  or  such  mother  is  dead,  then  of  the  guardian,  if  any,  of 
such  child ;  or  (d)  if  it  allege  that  both  such  parents  are  or  that 
such  mother  is  dead  and  that  no  guardian  of  such  child  is 
known  to  petitioner.  All  persons  so  named  in  such  petition 
shall  be  made  defendants  by  name  and  shall  be  notified  of  such 


28  JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC. 

proceedings  by  summons  if  residents  of  this  state  in  the  same 
manner  as  is  now  or  may  hereafter  be  required  in  chancery 
proceedings  by  the  laws  of  this  state  except  only  as  herein 
otherwise  provided. 

All  persons,  if  any,  who  or  whose  names  are  stated  in  the 
petition  to  be  unknown  to  petitioner,  shall  be  deemed  and  taken 
as  defendants  by  the  name  or  designation  of  "all  whom  it  may 
concern."  The  petition  shall  be  verified  by  affidavit,  which 
affidavit  shall  be  sufficient  upon  information  and  belief.  Pro- 
cess shall  be  issued  against  all  persons  made  parties  by  the  des- 
ignation of  ''all  whom  it  may  concern"  by  such  description,  and 
notice  given  by  publication  as  is  required  in  this  act  shall  be 
sufficient  to  authorize  the  court  to  hear  and  determine  the  suit 
as  though  the  parties  had  been  sued  by  their  proper  names. 

Section  5.  Summons.---The  summons  shall  require  the 
person  alleged  to  have  the  custody  of  such  child  to  appear  with 
the  child  at  the  time  and  place  stated  in  the  summons ;  and  shall 
also  require  all  defendants  to  be  and  appear  and  answer  the 
petition  on  the  return  day  of  the  summons.  The  summons 
shall  be  made  returnable  at  any  time  within  twenty  days  after 
the  date  thereof  and  may  be  served  by  the  sheriff,  or  by  any 
duly  appointed  probation  officer,  even  though  such  officer  be 
the  petitioner.  The  return  of  such  summons  with  indorsement 
of  service  by  the  sheriff  or  by  such  probation  officer  in  accord- 
ance herewith  shall  be  sufficient  proof  thereof. 

Whenever  it  shall  appear  from  the  petition  or  from  affi- 
davit filed  in  the  cause  that  any  named  defendant  resides  or 
hath  gone  out  of  the  state,  or  on  due  inquiry  cannot  be  found, 
or  is  concealed  within  this  state  or  that  his  place  of  residence 
is  unknown  so  that  process  cannot  be  served  upon  him,  or  when- 
ever any  person  is  made  defendant  under  the  name  or  desig- 
nation of  "all  whom  it  may  concern,"  the  clerk  shall  cause  pub- 
lication to  be  made  once  in  some  newspaper  of  general  cir- 
culation published  in  his  county,  and  if  there  be  none  published 
in  his  county,  then  in  a  newspaper  published  in  the  nearest 
place  to  his  county  in  this  state,  which  shall  be  substantially  as 
follows : 

A,  B,  C,  D,  etc.  (here  giving  the  names  of  such  named  de- 
fendants, if  any),  and  to  "all  whom  it  may  concern"  (if  there 
be  any  defendant  under  such  designation). 


JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC.  29 

Take  notice  that  on  the day  of A.  D. 

19 ,  a  petion  was  filed  by in  the court 

of county  to  have  a  certain  child,  named 

declared  a  (dependent  or  delinquent)  and  to  take  from  you  the 
custody  and  guardianship  of  said  child  (and  if  the  petition 
prays  for  the  appointment  of  a  guardian  with  power  to  consent 
to  adoption,  add  and  to  give  said  child  out  for  adoption). 

Now,  unless  you  appear  within  twenty  days  after  the  date 
of  this  notice  and  show  cause  against  such  application,  the  peti- 
tion shall  be  taken  for  confessed  and  a  decree  granted. 

E.  F.,  Clerk. 
Dated  (the  date  of  publication). 

And  he  shall  also  within  ten  days  after  the  publication  of 
such  notice  send  a  copy  thereof  by  mail,  addressed  to  such  de- 
fendants whose  place  of  residence  is  stated  in  the  petition  and 
who  shall  not  have  been  served  with  summons.  Notice  given 
by  publication  as  is  required  by  this  act  shall  be  the  only  publi- 
cation notice  required  either  in  the  case  of  residents,  non-resi- 
dents or  otherwise.  The  certificate  of  the  clerk  that  he  has  sent 
such  notice  in  pursuance  of  this  section  shall  be  evidence  there- 
of. Every  defendant  who  shall  be  duly  summoned  shall  be 
held  to  appear  and  answer  either  in  writing  or  orally  in  open 
court  on  the  return  day  of  the  summons  or  if  such  summons 
shall  be  served  less  than  one  day  prior  to  the  return  day,  then 
on  the  following  day.  Every  defendant  who  shall  be  notified 
by  publication  as  herein  provided  shall  be  held  to  appear  and 
answer  either  in  writing  or  orally  in  open  court  within  twenty 
days  after  the  date  of  the  publication  notice.  The  answer  shall 
have  no  greater  weight  as  evidence,  than  the  petition.  In  default 
of  an  answer  at  the  time  or  times  herein  specified  or  at  such 
further  time  as  by  order  of  court  may  be  granted  to  a  de- 
fendant, the  petition  may  be  taken  as  confessed. 

If  the  person"Havihg  the  custody  or  control  of  the  child 
shall  fail  without  reasonable  cause  to  bring  the  child  into  court, 
he  may  be  proceeded  against  as  in  case  of  contempt  of  court. 
In  case  the  summons  shall  be  returned  and  ifiot  served  upon  the 
person  having  the  custody  or  control  of  such  child  or  such  per- 
son fails  to  obey  the  same  and  in  any  case  when  it  shall  be  made 
to  appear  to  the  court  by  affidavit,  which  may  be  on  informa- 
tion and  belief  that  such  summons  will  be  ineffectual  to  secure 


30  JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC. 

the  presence  of  the  child,  a  warrant  may  be  issued  on  the  order 
of  the  court  either  against  the  parents  or  either  of  them,  or 
guardian  or  the  person  having  the  custody  or  control  of  the 
child  or  with  whom  the  child  may  be  or  against 
the  child  itself  to  bring  such  person  into  court.  On  default 
of  the  custodian  of  the  child  or  on  his  appearance  or  answer, 
or  on  the  appearance  in  person  of  the  child  in  court  with 
or  without  the  summons  or  other  process  and  on  the  answer, 
default  or  appearance  or  written  consent  to  the  proceedings 
of  the  other  defendants  thereto  or  as  soon  there- 
after as  may  be,  the  court  shall  proceed  to  hear  evidence.  The 
court  may,  in  any  case  when  the  child  is  not  represented  by  any 
person,  appoint  some  suitable  person  to  act  on  behalf  of  the 
child.  At  any  time  after  the  filing  of  the  petition  and  pend- 
ing the  final  disposition  of  the  case,  the  court  may  continue 
the  hearing  from  time  to  time  and  may  allow  such  child  to  re- 
main in  the  possession  of  its  custodian  or  in  its  own  home 
subject  to  the  friendly  visitation  of  a  probation  officer,  or  it 
may  order  such  child  to  be  placed  in  the  custody  of  a  probation 
officer  of  the  court,  or  of  any  suitable  person  appointed  by  the 
court,  or  to  be  kept  in  some  suitable  place  provided  by  the  city 
or  county  authorities. 

Section  6.  Probation  Officers. — The  county  courts  of  the 
several  counties  in  this  state  shall  have  authority  to  appoint 
any  number  of  discreet  persons  of  good  moral  character  to 
serve  as  probation  officers  during  the  pleasure  of  the  court; 
said  probation  officers  to  receive  no  compensation  from  the 
county  treasury  except  as  herein  provided.  It  shall  be  the  duty 
of  the  clerk  of  the  court,  if  practicable,  to  notify  the  said  pro- 
bation officer  when  any  child  is  to  be  brought  before  the  court  ; 
it  shall  be  the  duty  of  such  probation  officer  to  make. investiga- 
tion of  such  case;  to  be  present  in  court  to  represent  the  in- 
terests of  the  child  when  the  case  is  heard;  to  furnish  to  such 
court  such  information  and  assistance  as  the  court  or  judge 
may  require,  and  to  take  charge  of  any  child  before  and  after 
the  trial  as  may  be  directed  by  the  court.  The  number  of  pro- 
bation officers  to  receive  compensation  from  the  county, 
named  and  designated  by  the  county  court,  shall  be  as  follows : 
In  counties  having  a  population  of  over  thirty  thousand,  two 
probation  officers,  one  of  whom  shall  be  appointed  and  des- 
ignated as  chief  probation  officer,  who  shall  receive  a  salary  of 


JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC.  31 

not  exceeding  twelve  hundred  dollars  ($1,200.00)  per  year; 
and  one  to  be  designated  as  assistant  probation  officer,  who 
shall  receive  a  salary  of  not  exceeding  nine  hundred  dollars 
($900.00)  per  year,  and  expenses  may  be  allowed  the  chief 
probation  officer  in  a  sum  not  exceeding  two  hundred  dollars 
($200.00)  per  year;  in  counties  having  a  population  of  over 
fifteen  thousand  and  less  than  thirty  thousand,  one 
probation  officer  may  be  appointed  at  a  salary  of 
not  to  exceed  twelve  hundred  dollars  ($1,200.00)  per 
year  and  expenses  of  probation  work  may  be  allowed  by  the 
county  in  a  sum  not  to  exceed  two  hundred  dollars  ($200.00) 
per  year. 

In  all  counties  of  over  fifteen  thousand  population  proba- 
tion officers,  receiving  compensation  from  the  county,  shall  be 
appointed  by  the  Judge  of  the  County  Court,  and  the  said  sal- 
ary or  expenses  shall  be  paid  in  monthly  installments  from  the 
county  treasury.  In  any  county  of  less  than  fifteen  thousand 
population,  one  probation  officer,  at  a  salary  of  not  to  exceed 
nine  hundred  dollars  ($900.00)  per  annum,  to  be  paid  as  pro- 
vided for  probation  officers  in  other  counties,  may  be  appoint- 
ed by  the  County  Judge,  whenever  in  the  opinion  of  the  County 
Judge,  the  County  Superintendent  of  Schools  and  a  majority 
of  the  Board  of  County  Commissioners  of  such  county  it  shall 
be  necessary  to  care  for  the  dependent  and  delinquent  children 
of  the  county.  Any  County  Judge  appointing  such  probation 
officer  to  receive  a  salary  or  other  compensation  from  the 
county,  provided  for  under  this  act,  shall  transmit  such  appoint- 
ment to  the  Superintendent  of  Schools  of  the  county  in  which 
such  appointment  is  made,  the  State  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction  and  the  State  Commissioner  of  Charities  and  Cor- 
rections, who  shall  constitute  a  Board  to  investigate  the  com- 
petency of  such  person  so  appointed  to  act  as  a  probation 
officer,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  a  majority  of  said  board  to 
approve  or  disapprove  of  such  appointee,  within  thirty  days 
after  submission  thereof  by  the  said  county  court,  and  a  failure 
to  act  thereon  within  such  time  shall  constitute  an  approval  of 
such  appointment;  if  a  majority  of  such  board  are  of  the 
opinion  that  such  appointee  does  not  possess  the  qualifications 
for  a  probation  officer,  they  shall  notify  the  court  of  their  con- 
clusions within  thirty  days  of  the  submission  of  such  appoint- 
ment to  the  respective  members  thereof,  whereupon  it  shall  be 


82  JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC. 

the  duty  of  the  County  Judge  to  withdraw  such  appointment 
and  appoint  someone  who  shall  receive  the  approval  of  said 
board. 

Probation  officers  receiving  a  salary  or  other  compensa- 
tion from  the  county,  provided  for  by  this  act,  are  hereby 
vested  with  all  the  power  and  authority  of  police  or  sheriffs  to 
make  arrests  and  perform  any  other  duties  ordinarily  required 
by  policemen  and  sheriffs  which  may  be  incident  to  their 
office  or  necessary  or  convenient  to  the  performance  of  their 
duties;  provided  that  other  probation  officers  may  be  vested 
with  like  power  and  authority  upon  a  written  certificate  trom 
the  County  Judge  that  they  are  persons  of  discretion  and  good 
character,  and  that  it  is  the  desire  of  the  court  to  vest  them 
with  all  the  power  and  authority  conferred  by  law  upon  proba- 
tion officers  receiving  compensation  from  the  county. 

In  counties  of  over  thirty  thousand  population,  whenever 
in  the  opinion  of  the  Judge  of  the  County  Court,  the  Board  of 
County  Commissioners  and  the  Superintendent  of  Schools,  ad- 
ditional probation  officers  to  those  allowed  by  law  are  neces- 
sary for  the  care  of  dependent  and  delinquent  children,  not  to 
exceed  two  assistant  probation  officers,  in  addition  to  the  one 
provided  for  herein,  may  be  appointed  in  the  manner  provided 
by  this  act,  at  a  salary  not  to  exceed  nine  hundred  dollars 
($900.00)  per  year. 

Salaries  or  compensation  of  paid  probation  officers 
permitted  by  this  act  shall  be  fixed  by  the  County  Judge, 
not  to  exceed  the  sums  herein  mentioned,  and  any  bills 
for  expenses,  not  exceeding  the  sums  herein  provided  for, 
shall  be  certified  to  by  the  County  Judge  as  being  necessary  in 
and  about  the  performance  of  the  duties  of  probation  officer 
or  officers.  The  appointment  of  probation  officers  and  the 
approval  thereof  as  to  the  qualifications  of  such  officers  by  the 
board  herein  designated,  shall  be  filed  in  the  office  of  the  Clerk 
of  the  County  Court.  Probation  officers  shall  take  an  oath 
such  as  may  be  required  of  other  county  officers  to  perform 
their  duties  and  file  it  in  the  office  of  Clerk  of  the  County 
Court. 

Nothing  herein  contained,  however,  shall  be  held  to  limit 
or  abridge  the  power  of  the  County  Judge  to  appoint  any  num- 
ber of  persons  as  probation  officers,  whom  said  Judge  may  see 


JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC.  33 

fit  and  who  may  be  willing  to  serve  without  pay  from  the 
county  for  such  services  as  probation  officers. 

Section  7.  Dependent  and  Neglected  Children. — If  the 
court  shall  find  any  male  child  under  the  age  of  seventeen 
years  (17)  or  any  female  child  under  the  age  of  eighteen  years 
(18)  to  be  dependent  or  neglected  within  the  meaning  of  this 
act,  the  court  may  allow  such  child  to  remain  at  its  own  home 
subject  to  the  friendly  visitation  of  a  probation  officer,  or  to 
report  to  the  court  or  probation  officer  from  its  home  or  school 
at  such  times  as  the  court  may  require.  And  if  parent,  parents, 
guardian  or  custodian  consent  thereto,  or  if  the  court  shall  fur- 
ther find  that  the  parent,  parents,  guardian  or  custodian  of  such 
child  are  unfit  or  improper  guardians  or  are  unable  or  unwill- 
ing to  care  for,  protect,  train,  educate,  correct  or  discipline 
such  child  and  that  it  is  for  the  interest  of  such  child  and  of  the 
people  of  this  state  that  such  child  be  taken  from  the  custody 
of  its  parents,  custodian  or  guardian,  the  court  may  make  an 
order  appointing  as  guardian  of  the  person  of  such 
child,  some  reputable  citizen  of  good  moral  character  and  order 
such  guardian  to  place  such  child  in  some  suitable  family  home 
or  other  suitable  place,  which  such  guar'dian  may  provide  for 
such  child,  or  the  court  may  enter  an  order  committing  such 
child  to  some  suitable  state  institution,  organized  for  the  care 
of  dependent  or  neglected  children,  or  to  some  training  school 
or  industrial  school  or  childrens'  home  finding  society  or  to 
some  association  embracing  in  its  objects  the  purpose  of  caring 
for  or  obtaining  homes  for  neglected  or  dependent  children, 
which  association  shall  have  been  accredited  as  hereinafter  pro- 
vided. 

Section  8.  Guardianship. — In  every  case  where  such 
child  is  committed  to  an  institution,  or  association,  the  court 
shall  appoint  the  president,  secretary  or  superintendent  of  such 
institution  or  association,  guardian  over  the  person  of  such 
child  and  shall  order  :such  guardian'  *  to  place  such 
child  in  such  institution  or  with  such  association,  whereof  he  is 
such  officer  and  to  hold  such  child,  care  for,  train  and  educate 
it  subject  to  the  rules  and  laws  that  may  be  in  force  from  time 
to  time  governing  such  institution  or  association. 

Section  9.  Delinquent  Children. — If  the  court  shall  find 
any  male  child  under  the  age  of  seventeen  years  or  any  female 


34  JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC. 

child  under  the  age  of  eighteen  years  to  be  delinquent  within 
the  meaning  of  this  act,  the  court  may  allow  such  child  to 
remain  at  its  own  home  subject  to  the  friendly  visitation  of  a 
probation  officer,  such  child  to  report  to  the  court  or  probation 
officer  with  such  record  of  its  conduct  in  its  home  or  school 
as  the  court  may  require  as  often  as  may  be  required,  and  if 
the  parents,  parent,  guardian  or  custodian  consent  thereto,  or 
if  the  court  shall  further  find  either  that  the  parent,  parents, 
guardian  or  custodian  are  unfit  or  improper  guardians  or  are 
unable  or  unwilling  to  care  for,  protect,  educate  or  discipline 
such  child  and  shall  further  find  that  the  parent,  parents 
guardian  or  custodian  are  unfit  or  im^proper  guardians  or 
are  unable  or  unwilling  to  care  for,  protect,  educate  or  dis- 
cipline such  child  and  shall  further  find  that  it  is  for  the  in- 
terest of  such  child  and  of  the  people  of  this  state  that  such 
child  be  taken  from  the  custody  of  its  parents,  parent,  cus- 
todian or  guardian,  the  court  may  appoint  some  proper  person 
or  probation  officer,  gu^a'dian  over  the  person  of  such  child 
and  permit  it  to  remain  at  its  home,  or  order  such  guardian 
to  cause  such  child  to  be  placed  in  a  suitable  family  home,  or 
cause  it  to  be  boarded,  out  in  some  suitable  family  home,  in 
case  provision  is  made  by  voluntary  contribution  or  otherwise 
for  the  payment  of  the  board;  or  the  court  may  commit  such 
child  to  any  institution  incorporated  under  the  laws 
of  this  state  to  care  for  delinquent  children,  or  to 
any  institution  that  has  been  or  may  be  provided  by 
the  state,  county,  city,  town  or  village  suitable  for 
the  care  of  delinquent  children,  including  a  detention  home 
or  school,  or  to  some  association  that  will  receive  it,  embracing 
in  its  objects  the  care  of  neglected,  dependent  or  delinquent 
children  and  which  has  been  duly  accredited  as  hereinafter 
provided.  In  every  case  where  such  child  is  committed  to  an 
institution  or  association,  the  court  shall  appoint  the  president, 
secretary  or  superintendent  of  such  institution  or  association, 
guardian  over  the  person  of  such  child  and  shall  order  such 
guardian  to  place  such  child  in  such  institution  or  with 
such  association,  whereof  he  is  such  officer,  and  to  hold 
such  child,  care  for,  train  and  educate  it  subject  to  the  rules 
and  laws  that  may  be  in  force,  from  time  to  time  governing 
such  institution  or  association. 


JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS.  ETC.  86 

Section  10.  The  court  may  in  its  discretion  in  any  case  of  a 
[delinquent  child  permit  such  child  to  be  proceeded  against  in 
accordance  with  the  laws  that  may  be  in  force  in  this  state 
governing  the  commission  of  crimes  or  violation  of  city,  vil- 
lage, or  town  ordinances ;  in  such  case  the  petition  filed  under 
this  act  shall  be  dismissed. 

Section  11.  The  court  may,  when  the  health  or  condition 
of  any  child  found  to  be  dependent,  neglected  or  delinquent, 
requires  it,  order  the  guardian  to  cause  such  child  to  be  placed 
in  a  public  hospital  or  institution  for  treatment  or  special  care, 
or  in  a  private  hospital  or  institution,  which  will  receive  it  for 
like  purposes,  without  charge  to  the  public  authorities. 

Section  12.  Any  child  found  to  be  dependent,  neglected  or 
delinquent  as  defined  in  this  act,  and  awarded  by  the  court  to 
a  guardian,  institution  or  association,  shall  be  held  by  such 
guardian,  institution  or  association,  as  the  case  may  be,  by 
virtue  of  the  order  entered  of  record  in  such  case,  and  the 
clerk  of  the  court  shall  issue  and  cause  to  be  delivered  to  such 
guardian,  institution  or  association  a  certified  copy  of  such 
order  of  the  court,  which  certified  copy  of  such  order  shall  be 
proof  of  the  authority  of  such  guardian,  institution  or  associa- 
tion in  behalf  of  such  child,  and  no  other  process  need  issue 
to  warrant  the  keeping  of  such  child.  The  guardianship  under 
this  act  shall  continue  until  the  court  shall  by  further  order 
otherwise  direct  but  not  after  such  child  shall  have  reached 
the  age  of  twenty-one  (21)  years. 

Section  13  The  court  may,  from  time  to  time,  cite  into  court 
the  guardian,  institution  or  association  to  whose  care  any  de- 
pendent, neglected  or  delinquent  child  has  been  awarded,  and 
require  him  or  it  to  make  a  full,  true  and  perfect  report  as  to 
his  or  its  doings  in  behalf  of  such  child;  and  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  such  guardian,  institution  or  association,  within  ten 
days  after  such  citation,  to  make  such  report  either  in  writing 
verified  by  affidavit,  or  verbally  under  oath  in  open  court,  or 
otherwise  as  the  court  shall  direct;  and  upon  the  hearing  of 
such  report,  with  or  without  further  evidence,  the  court  may, 
if  it  sees  fit,  remove  such  guardian  and  appoint  another  in  his 
stead,  or  take  such  child  away  from  such  institution  or  asso- 


36  JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS.  ETC. 

ciation  and  place  it  in  another,  or  restore  such  child  to  the 
custody  of  its  parents  or  former  guardian  or  custodian. 

Section  14.  Transfers  from  Justice  and  Police  Magi- 
strates.— When  in  any  county  where  a  court  is  held  as  pro- 
vided in  section  2  of  this  act,  a  male  child  under  the  age  of 
seventeen  years  or  a  female  child  under  the  age  of  eighteen 
years  is  arrested  with  or  without  warrant  such  child  may,  in- 
stead of  being  taken  before  a  justice  of  the  peace  or  police 
magistrate,  be  taken  directly  before  such  court;  or  if  the  child 
is  taken  before  a  justice  of  the  peace  or  police  magistrate,  such 
justice  or  magistrate  shall  inquire  into  such  case,  and  unless 
it  be  of  the  opinion  that  no  sufficient  foundation  exists  for  the 
charge  of  dependency  or  delinquency,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of 
such  justice  of  the  peace  or  police  magistrate  to  transfer  the 
case  to  the  county  court,  and  the  officer  having  the  child  in 
charge  to  take  the  child  before  such  court,  and  in  any  case  the 
county  court  may  proceed  to  hear  and  dispose  of  the  case  in 
the  same  manner  as  if  the  child  had  been  brought  before  the 
court  upon  petition  as  herein  provided.  In  any  case,  the  court 
shall  require  notice  to  be  given  and  investigation  to  be  made  as 
in  other  cases  under  this  act,  and  may  adjourn  the  hearing 
from  time  to  time  for  that  purpose. 

Section  15.  Children  Under  Twelve  Years  Not  to  Be 
Committed  to  Jail. — No  court  or  magistrate  shall  commit  a 
child  under  twelve  (12)  years  of  age  to  a  jail  or  police 
station,  but  if  such  child  is  unable  to  give  bail  it  may  be  com- 
mitted to  the  care  of  the  sheriff,  police  officer  or  probation 
officer,  who  shall  keep  such  child  in  some  suitable  place  pro- 
vided by  the  city  or  county  outside  of  the  enclosure  of  any 
jail  or  police  station.  When  any  child  shall  be  sentenced  to 
confinement  in  any  institution  to  which  adult  convicts  are  sen- 
tenced, it  shall  be  unlawful  to  confine  such  child  in  the  sam* 
building  with  such  adult  convicts,  or  to  confine  such  child  in 
the  same  yard  or  enclosure  with  such  adult  convicts,  or  to  bring 
such  child  into  any  yard  or  building  in  which  adult  convicts 
may  be  present. 

In  counties  of  over  thirty  thousand  population  it  shall  be 
the  duty  of  the  proper  authorities  to  provide  and  maintain  at 
public  expense  a  house  separated  and  removed  from  any  jail 


JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC.  87 

or  lockup,  to  be  in  charge  of  a  matron  or  other  person  of  good, 
moral  character,  wherein  all  children  within  the  provisions  of 
this  act  shall,  when  necessary  before  or  after  trial,  be  detained 
either  for  securing  the  attendance  of  such  child  at  any  hear- 
ing or  trial  of  any  cause,  or  for  such  disciplinary  purposes  as 
may  seem  necessary  to  the  court  for  the  best  interests  of  said 
child  and  of  the  state. 

Any  child  within  the  provisions  of  this  act,  informed 
against  or  regarding  which  a  petition  has  been  filed,  or 
for  any  purpose  taken  into  custody,  shall,  at  any  time 
before  it  is  tried  and  adjudged  to  be  delinquent,  be  en- 
titled, by  any  friend  or  parent  offering  sufficient  surety,  to  give 
bond  or  other  security  for  its  appearance  at  any  hearing  or 
trial  of  such  case,  as  such  right  is  given  to  persons  informed 
against  for  crime;  and  the  court  may  in  any  such  case,  upon 
the  request  of  said  child  or  its  parent  or  person  representing 
it,  appoint  counsel  to  appear  and  defend  on  behalf  of  any  such 
child,  such  counsel  to  receive  no  pay  from  the  county. 

Section  16.  Agents  of  Juvenile  Reformatories. — It  shall 
be  the  duty  of  the  board  of  managers,  trustees  or  such  author- 
ities as  may  be  vested  by  law  with  the  control  or  management 
of  any  state  institution  to  which  juvenile  delinquents  may  be 
committed  by  the  courts  of  this  state,  to  maintain  an  agent 
of  such  institution,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  examine  the  homes 
of  children  paroled  from  such  institutions,  for  the  purpose  of 
ascertaining  and  reporting  to  said  institutions  whether  they 
have  suitable  homes;  to  assist  children  paroled  or 
discharged  from  such  institutions  in  finding  employ- 
ment and  to  maintain  a  friendly  supervision  over 
paroled  inmates  during  the  continuance  of  their  parole; 
such  agent  shall  hold  office  subject  to  the  pleasure  of 
the  board  or  other  authority  having  charge  of  said  institution, 
making  the  appointment,  and  shall  receive  such  compensation 
as  such  board  or  authorities  controlling  such  institution  may 
determine  out  of  any  funds  appropriated  for  such  institution 
which  may  be  applicable  thereto. 

Section  17.  Supervision  of  State  Commissioner  of  Char- 
ities and  Corrections. — All  institutions  or  associations  receiv- 
ing children  under  this  act  shall  be  subject  to  the  same  visita- 
tion, inspection  and  supervision  by  the  State  Commissioner  of 


28  JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS.   ETC. 

Charities  and  Corrections  as  are  other  charitable  or  correc- 
tion institutions  of  this  state,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
said  Commissioner  of  Charities  and  Corrections  to  pass  an-, 
nually  upon  the  fitness  of  every  such  association  as  may  re- 
ceive, or  desire  to  receive  children  under  the  supervision  of 
this  act,  and  every  such  association  shall  annually  at  such  time 
as  the  said  Commissioner  of  Charities  and  Corrections  may 
direct,  make  report  thereto,  showing  its  condition,  manage- 
ment and  competency  to  adequately  care  for  such  children  as 
are  or  may  be  committed  to  it,  and  such  other  facts  as  said 
Commissioner  may  require,  and  upon  said  Commissioner  being 
satisfied  that  such  association  or  institution  is  competent,  and 
has  adequate  facilities  to  care  for  such  children,  the  Com- 
missioner shall  issue  to  the  same  a  certificate  to  that  effect, 
which  certificate  shall  continue  in  force  for  one  year,  unless 
sooner  revoked  by  said  Commissioner,  and  no  child  shall  be 
committed  to  any  such  institution  or  association  which  shall 
not  have  received  such  certificate  within  eighteen  months  next 
preceding  the  commitment.  The  court  may,  at  any  time,  re- 
quire from  any^^sociation  receiving  or  desiring  to  receive  chil- 
dren under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  such  reports,  informa- 
tion and  statements  as  the  Judge  shall  deem  proper  or  neces- 
sary for  his  action,  and  the  court  shall  in  no  case  be  required 
to  commit  a  child  to  any  institution  or  association  whose  stand' 
ing,  conduct  or  care  of  children,  or  ability  to  care  for  the 
same,  is  not  satisfactory  to  the  court. 

Section  18.  Incorporation  of  Association. — No  associa- 
tion whose  objects  embrace  the  caring  for  dependent,  neg- 
lected or  delinquent  children  shall  hereafter  be  incorporated 
unless  the  proposed  articles  of  incorporation  shall  first  have 
been  submitted  to  the  examination  of  the  state  commissioner 
of  charities  and  corrections,  and  the  secretary  of  state  shall 
not  issue  a  certificate  of  incorporation  unless  there  shall  first 
be  filed  in  his  office  the  certificate  of  said  state  commissioner  of 
charities  and  corrections  that  the  said  commissioner  has  ex- 
amined the  said  articles  of  incorporation,  and  that,  in  his 
judgment,  the  incorporators  are  reputable,  reliable  and  re- 
sponsible persons,  the  proposed  work  is  needed  and  the  incor- 
poration of  such  association  is  desirable  for  the  public  good 
and  the  welfare  of  dependent,  neglected  or  delinquent  chil- 
dren, amendments  proposed  to  the  articles  of  incorporation  of 


JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC.  S9 

any  such  association  shall  be  submitted  in  like  manner  to  the 
state  commissioner  of  charities  and  corrections,  and  the  secre- 
tary of  state  shall  not  record  such  amendments  or  issue  his 
certificate  therefor  unless  there  shall  first  be  filed  in  his  office 
the  certificate  of  said  state  commissioner  of  charities  and  cor- 
rections that  the  commissioner  has  examined  the  said  amend- 
ment and  that  the  association  in  question  is,  in  the  judgment 
of  the  commissioner,  perfoming  in  good  faith  the  work  under- 
taken by  it,  and  that  the  said  amendment  is,  in  the  judgment 
of  the  commissioner,  a  proper  one  and  for  the  public  good  and 
in  the  interest  of  neglected,  dependent  or  delinquent  children. 

Section  19.  Order  Relating  to  Adoption. — Whenever 
the  petition  filed,  as  is  provided  in  Section  4  hereof,  or  a  sup- 
plemental petition  filed  at  any  time  after  the  appointment  of 
the  guardian  shall  pray  that  the  guardian  appointed  or  to  be 
appointed  shall  be  authorized  to  consent  to  the  legal  adoption 
of  the  child,  and  the  court  upon  the  hearing  shall  find  that  it 
is  to  the  best  interests  of  such  child  that  the  guardian  be  given 
such  authority,  the  court  may,  in  its  order  appointing  such 
guardian,  empower  him  to  appear  in  court  where  any  proceed- 
ings for  the  adoption  of  such  child  may  be  pending,  and  to 
consent  to  such  adoption;  and  such  consent  shall  be  sufficient 
to  authorize  the  court  where  the  adoption  proceedings  are 
pending  to  enter  a  proper  order  or  decree  of  adoption  without 
further  notice  to,  or  consent  by  the  parents  or  relatives  of  such 
child  ;  provided,  however,  that  before  entering  such  order  the 
court  shall  find  from  the  evidence  that  ( 1 )  the  parents  or  sur- 
viving parent  of  a  legitimate  child  or  the  mother  of  an  illegita- 
mate  child,  or  if  the  child  has  no  parents  living  the  guardian  of 
the  child,  if  any,  or  if  there  is  no  parent  living  and  the  child  has 
no  guardian  or  the  guardian  is  not  known  to  petitioner,  then 
a  known,  near  relative  of  the  child,  if  any  there  be,  consents 
to  such  order;  or,  (2)  that  one  parent  consents  and  the  other 
is  unfit  for  any  of  the  reasons  hereinafter  specified  to  have  the 
child,  or  that  both  parents  are  or  that  the  surviving  parent  or 
the  mother  of  an  illegitimate  child  is  so  unfit  for  any  such 
reasons — the  grounds  of  unfitness  being  (a)  depravity,  (b) 
open  and  notorious  adultery  or  fornication,  (c)  habitual  drunk- 
enness for  the  space  of  one  year  prior  to  the  filing  of  petition, 
(d)  extreme  and  repeated  cruelty  to  the  child,  (e)  abandon* 


40  JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC. 

ment  of  child  or  (f)  desertion  of  the  child  for  more  than  six 
(6)  months  next  preceding  the  filing  of  the  petition,  and  (3) 
that  such  child,  if  of  the  age  of  fourteen  years  or  over,  con- 
sents to  such  order. 

Section  20.  Foreign  Corporations.  —  No  association 
which  is  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  any  other  state  than 
the  state  of  Oklahoma  shall  place  any  child  in  any  family  home 
within  the  boundaries  of  the  state  of  Oklahoma  either  with 
or  without  indenture  or  for  adoption,  unless  the  said  associa- 
tion shall  have  furnished  the  state  commissioner  of  charities 
and  corrections  with  such  guaranty  as  they  may  require  that 
no  child  shall  be  brought  into  the  state  of  Oklahoma  by  such 
society  or  its  agents,  having  any  contagious,  or  incurable  dis- 
ease, or  having  any  deformity  or  being  of  feeble  mind,  or  of 
vicious  character,  and  that  said  association  shall  promptly  re- 
ceive and  remove  from  the  state  any  child  brought  into  the 
state  of  Oklahoma  by  its  agent,  which  shall  become  a  public 
charge  within  the  period  of  five  ( 5 )  years  after  being  brought 
into  this  state.  Any  person  who  shall  receive,  to  be  placed  in 
a  home,  or  shall  place  in  a  home,  any  child  in  behalf  of  any 
association,  incorporated  in  any  other  state  than  the  state  of 
Oklahoma,  which  shall  not  have  complied  with  the  require- 
ments of  this  act  shall  be  imprisoned  in  the  county  jail  not 
more  than  thirty  days,  or  fined  no  less  than  $5  or  more  than 
one  hundred  (100)  dollars,  or  both,  in  the  discretion  of  the 
court. 

Section  21.  Religious  Preference. — The  court  in  com- 
mitting children  shall  place  them  as  far  as  practicable  in  the 
care  and  custody  of  some  individual  holding  the  same  religi- 
ous belief  as  the  parents  of  said  child,  or  with  some  associ- 
ation which  is  controlled  by  persons  of  like  religious  faith  of 
the  parents  of  the  said  child. 

Section  22.  County  Boards  of  Visitors. — The  county 
judge  of  each  county  may  appoint  a  board  of  six  reputable 
inhabitants,  who  will  serve  without  compensation,  to  consti- 
tute a  board  of  visitation,  whose  duty  it  shaU  be  to  visit,  as 
often  as  once  a  year,  all  institutions,  societies  and  associations 
receiving  children  under  this  act;  said  visits  shall  be  made  by 
not  less  than  two  of  the  members  of  the  board,  who  shall  go 


JUVENILE   COURT  LAWS,   ETC.  41 

together  or  make  a  joint  report ;  the  said  board  of  visitors  shall 
report  to  the  court,  from  time  to  time,  the  condition  of  chil- 
dren received  by  or  in  the  charge  of  such  associations  and  in- 
stitutions, and  shall  make  an  annual  report  to  the  state  com- 
missioner of  charities  and  correction  in  such  form  as  the  com- 
missioner may  prescribe. 

Section  23.  Officers  of  Courts. — It  shall  be  unlawful  for 
any  court  clerk  or  other  person  to  tax  or  collect,  or  for  any 
county  to  pay  any  fees  whatever  which  may  be  permitted  by 
any  law  to  be  taxed  or  collected  for  the  benefit  of  any  court 
officer  or  person  for  any  case  concerning  any  child  coming 
within  the  provisions  of  this  act  for  violating  any  law  of  this 
state,  unless  such  child  shall  be  proceeded  against  under  the 
provisions  and  in  accordance  with  the  purpose  of  this  act,  ex- 
cept in  capital  cases  or  where  the  courts  shall  direct  a  pro- 
ceeding under  the  criminal  code,  as  provided  in  section  10  of 
this  act,  or  where  a  case  has  been  instituted  before  a  justice 
of  the  peace  or  police  magistrate,  who  shall  duly  comply  with 
the  terms  of  section  14  of  this  act. 

Section  24.  Reports  of  the  Juvenile  Court. — Between 
the  first  and  fifteenth  days  of  September  of  each  year,  the 
clerks  of  the  county  courts  shall  submit  to  the  state  commis- 
sioner of  charities  and  corrections  a  report  in  writing,  upon 
blanks  to  be  furnished  by  said  commissioner,  showing  number 
and  disposition  of  neglected,  dependent  or  delinquent  chil- 
dren brought  before  such  court,  together  with  such  useful 
information  regarding  such  cases  and  the  parentage  of  such 
children  and  the  character  of  their  dependency  or  delinquency 
as  may  be  reasonably  obtained  at  the  trials  thereof,  and  which 
may  be  required  by  the  said  commissioner;  provided  that  the 
name  or  identity  of  any  such  child  or  parent  shall  not  be  dis- 
closed in  such  report. 

Section  25.  Construction  of  the  Act. — This  act  shall  be 
liberally  construed  to  the  end  that  its  purpose  may  be  carried 
out,  to-wit,  that  the  care,  custody  and  discipline  of  the  child 
shall  aproximate  as  nearly  as  may  be  that  which  should  be 
given  by  its  parents,  and  in  all  cases  of  dependency  where  it 
can  properly  be  done,  that  the  child  shall  be  placed  in  an  ap- 
proved family  home,  and  become  a  member  of  a  home  and  fam- 


42  JUVENILE  COURT  DAWS,  ETC 

ily  by  legal  adoption  or  otherwise,  and  in  cases  of  delinquency^ 
that  as  far  as  practicable  any  delinquent  child  shall  be  treated, 
not  as  a  criminal,  but  as  misdirected  and  misguided  and  need- 
ing aid,  encouragement  and  assistance,  and  if  such  child  can- 
not be  properly  cared  for  and  corrected  in  its  own  home,  or 
with  the  assistance  and  help  of  the  probation  officers,  then, 
that  it  may  be  placed  in  a  suitable  institution  where  it  may  be 
helped  and  educated  and  equipped  for  industrial  efficiency  and 
useful  citizenship. 

Section  26.  Support  of  Children. — If  it  shall  appear, 
upon  the  hearing  of  the  cause  that  the  parent,  parents,  or  any 
person  or  persons  named  in  such  petition  who  are  in  law  li- 
able for  the  support  of  such  child,  are  able  to  contribute  to 
the  support  of  such  child,  the  court  shall  enter  an  order  re- 
quiring such  parent,  parents  or  other  persons  to  pay  to  the 
guardian  so  appointed  or  to  the  institution  to  which  such 
child  may  be  committed,  a  reasonable  sum  from  time  to  time 
for  the  support,  maintenance  or  education  of  such  child,  and 
the  court  may  order  such  parent,  parents  or  other  persons  to 
give  reasonable  security  for  the  payment  of  such  sum  or  sums 
and  upon  failure  to  pay,  the  court  may  enforce  obedience  to 
such  order  by  proceeding  as  for  contempt  of  court.  The  court 
may,  on  application  and  on  such  notice  as  the  court  may  direct 
from  time  to  time,  make  such  alterations  in  the  allowance  as 
shall  appear  reasonable  and  proper. 

Section  27.  Order  Relating  to  Support. — If  the  per- 
son so  ordered  to  pay  for  the  support,  maintenance  or  educa- 
tion of  a  dependent,  neglected  or  delinquent  child  shall  be 
employed  for  wages,  salary  or  commission,  the  court  may 
also  order  that  the  sum  to  be  paid  to  him  shall  be  paid  to  the 
guardian  or  institution  out  of  his  wages,  salary  or  commis- 
sion and  that  he  shall  execute  an  assignment  thereof  protanto. 
The  court  may  also  order  the  parent  or  the  person  so  ordered 
to  pay  the  sum  of  money  for  the  support,  maintenance  of  edu- 
cation of  a  child,  from  time  to  time  to  make  discovery  to  the 
court  as  to  his  place  of  employment  and  amount  earned  by 
him.  Upon  his  failure  to  obey  the  orders  of  court  he  may 
be  punished  as  for  contempt  of  court. 

Section  28.     Guardianship   of   Person. — Nothing  in  this 


JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC.  43 

act  shall  be  construed  to  give  the  guardian  appointed  under 
this  act  the  guardianship  of  the  estate  of  the  child  or  to  change 
the  age  of  minority  for  any  other  purpose  except  the  custody 
of  the  child. 

Section  29.  Appeals. — Cases  under  this  act  may  be  re- 
viewed by  writ  of  error  to  the  Supreme  Court. 

Section  30. — Population  of  Counties. — In  construing  the 
provisions  of  this  act,  the  following  counties  shall  be  deemed 
to  have  a  population  exceeding  thirty  thousand,  to-wit: 

and  the  following  counties  shall  be  construed  to  have  a  popu- 
lation exceeding  fifteen  thousand: 


Section  31.  Contempt  of  Court. — Any  person  who  shall 
interfere  with  the  direction  or  disposition  of  any  child  under 
any  order  of  the  Court  concerning  any  child  made  in  pur- 
suance of  the  provisions  of  this  act,  or  with  any  probation  or 
other  officer  of  the  court  in  carrying  out  the  directions  of  the 
court  under  any  such  order,  shall  be  held  to  be  in  contempt  of 
court  and  subject  to  punishment  as  for  contempt  of  court. 

Section  32.  Validity  of  Acts. — The  invalidity  of  any 
portion  of  this  act  shall  not  affect  the  validity  of  any  other 
portion  thereof  which  can  be  given  effect  without  such  invali  1 
part. 


44  JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC. 

Form  of  hill  suggested  in  order  to  hold  parents  or  other 
persons  legally  responsible  for  the  moral  and  physical  welfare 
of  children.  This  hill  has  sometimes  been  called  the  adult  de- 
linquent act,  hut  is  more  properly  termed  the  contributory  de- 
pendent and  delinquent  act,  since  it  creates  the  offence  known 
as  contributory  dependency  and  contributory  delinquency. 

JUVENILE  COURT   LAWS    SUGGESTED   FOR  THE 

STATE  OF  OKLAHOMA.    RESPONSIBILITY 

OF  PARENTS  AND  ADULTS. 

A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT  TO  DEFINE  CONTRIBUTORY 
DEPENDENCY  AND  CONTRIBUTORY  DELIN- 
QUENCY    AND     TO     MAKE     THE     SAME     A 
MISDEMEANOR  AND  TO  PROVIDE  FOR  THE 
PUNISHMENT  OF  PERSONS  GUILTY  THEREOF. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  People  of  the  State  of  Oklahoma : 

Section  1.  Definition — Any  person  who  shall  by  any 
act  cause,  encourage  or  contribute  to  the  dependency  or  de- 
linquency of  a  child,  as  these  terms  with  reference  to  children 
are  defined  by  the  statutes  of  this  State,  or  who  shall  for  any 
cause  be  responsible  therefor,  shall  be  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor, 
and  upon  trial  and  conviction  thereof,  shall  be  lined  in  a  sum 
not  to  exceed  five  hundred  dollars  or  imprisoned  in  the  County 
Jail  for  a  period  not  exceeding  one  year,  or  by  both  such  fine 
and  imprisonment.  When  the  charge  against  any  person 
under  this  act  concerns  the  dependency  of  a  child  or  children, 
the  offense  for  convenience  may  be  termed  contributory  de- 
pendency and  when  it  concerns  the  delinquency  of  a  child  or 
children  for  convenience  it  may  be  termed  contributory  de- 
linquency. 

Section  2.  Suspension  of  Sentence. — The  court  may 
suspend  any  sentence,  stay  or  postpone  the  enforcement  of 
execution,  or  release  from  custody  any  person  found  guilty 
in  any  case  under  this  act  upon  such  conditions  as  shall  be  im- 
posed by  the  court  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  this 
act. 


JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC.  46. 

Section  3.  Conditions  of  Suspended  Sentence. — (a) 
Such  conditions  may  include  the  following :  Any  person  found 
guilty  under  this  act  of  contributory  dependency  may  be  re- 
quired to  furnish  a  good  and  sufficient  bond  to  the  People  of 
the  State  of  Oklahoma  in  such  penal  sum,  as  the  court  shall 
determine,  not  exceeding  one  thousand  dollars,  conditioned 
for  the  payment  of  such  amount  as  the  court  may  order  not 
exceeding  twenty  dollars  per  month  for  the  support,  care  and 
maintenance  of  the  child  to  whose  dependency  such  person 
has  contributed ;  such  sum  to  be  expended  under  the  directions 
and  orders  of  the  court  for  the  purposes  mentioned. 

(b)  The  court  may  permit  any  child  to  remain  in  the 
custody  of  the  person  found  guilty  by  this  act  of  contributing 
to  its  dependency,  under  such  suspended  sentence,  upon  such 
conditions  for  the  treatment  and  care  of  such  child  as  may 
seem  to  the  court  to  be  for  its  best  welfare,  or  as  may  be  calcu- 
lated to  secure  obedience  to  the  law  or  to  remove  the  cause 
of  such  dependency  or  neglect,  and  while  such  conditions  are 
accepted  and  complied  with  by  any  such  person,  such  sentence 
may  remain  suspended  subject  to  be  enforced  upon  the  vio- 
lation of  any  of  the  conditions  imposed  by  the  court ;  and  such 
bond  may  be  forfeited  upon  a  failure  to  comply  with  any  such 
conditions,  as  well  as  upon  the  failure  to  pay  any  amount  re- 
quired for  the  maintenance  of  such  child. 

Section  4.  Conditions  of  Bond. — As  a  part  of  the 
conditions  of  any  such  bond  mentioned  in  Section  3  hereof 
it  shall  be  understood  that  it  shall  not  be  necessary  to 
bring  a  separate  suit  to  recover  the  penalty  of  any  such 
bond  which  has  become  forfeited,  but  the  court  may 
cause  a  citation  or  summons  to  issue  to  the  surety  or 
sureties  thereon,  requiring  that  he  or  they  appear  at  a  time 
named  by  the  court,  which  time  shall  be  not  less  than  ten  or 
more  than  twenty  days  from  the  issuance  thereof,  and  show 
cause,  if  any  there  be,  why  a  judgment  should  not  be  entered 
for  the  penalty  of  such  bond  and  execution  issue  for  the 
amount  thereof  against  the  property  of  the  surety  or  sureties 
thereon,  as  in  civil  cases,  and  upon  failure  to  appear  or  failure 
to  show  any  such  sufficient  cause,  the  court  shall  enter  such 
judgment  in  behalf  of  the  people  of  the  State  of  Oklahoma, 
against  the  principal  and  such  surety  or  sureties  on  such  bond 


'S  JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC 

not  to  exceed  the  sum  of  one  thousand  dollars  ($1,000.00) 
including  the  costs.  Any  moneys  collected  or  paid  upon  any 
such  execution  or  in  any  case  upon  such  bond,  shall  be  turned 
over  to  the  clerk  of  the  county  court,  (Juvenile  Court)  of  the 
county  in  which  such  bond  is  given,  to  be  applied  first  to  the 
payment  of  all  court  costs  and  then  to  the  care  or  mainte- 
nance of  the  child  or  children  for  whose  dependency  such 
conviction  was  had,  in  such  manner  and  upon  such  terms  as 
the  court  may  direct.  If  any  such  moneys  so  collected  be  un- 
necessary for  the  purposes  last  mentioned,  it  shall  be  turned 
over  within  one  year  to  the  treasurer  of  the  county. 

Section  5. — Violation  of  Conditions  of  Suspended  Sen- 
tence.— In  the  case  of  any  person  found  guilty  of  contributory 
dependency  or  contributory  delinquency  where  the  court  has 
suspended  the  execution  of  the  sentence  during  the  good  be- 
havior and  satisfactory  conduct  of  the  defendant  or  upon 
any  other  terms  and  conditions  which  may  have  been  imposed 
by  the  court,  it  shall  be  made  to  appear  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  court  at  any  time  during  such  suspended  sentence  or  stay 
of  execution,  that  it  ought  to  be  enforced,  the  court  may 
thereupon  enforce  the  same,  and  any  jail  sentence  thereunder 
shall  commence  from  the  date  upon  which  such  sentence  is 
ordered  to  be  enforced. 

Section  6.  Limitation  of  Sentence  Two  Years. — No  sen- 
tence shall  be  suspended  or  final  judgment  or  execution  shall 
be  stayed  in  the  case  of  any  person  found  guilty  under  this 
act,  to  exceed  a  period  of  tv^o  years.  If  at  any  time  prior 
thereto  it  shall  appear  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  court  that  such 
person  has  complied  faithfully  w^ith  the  conditions  of  any 
suspended  sentence,  judgment  or  execution,  or  is  for  any 
cause  in  the  opinion  of  the  court,  entitled  to  be  released  there- 
from, the  court  may  suspend  such  sentence  indefinitely,  in 
which  case  such  person  shall  be  finally  released  and  discharged, 
as  he  shall  be  in  any  event  at  the  end  of  tw^o  years  from  im- 
position of  any  such  sentence ;  Provided,  that  if  any  defendant 
be  actually  serving  a  jail  sentence  imposed  under  this  act  and 
enforced  before  the  expiration  of  said  two  years  in  accordance 
with  the  provisions  of  this  act,  then  in  such  case  the  defend- 
ant shall  not  be  finally  discharged  until  the  expiation  of  any 
such  sentence. 


JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC.  47 

Section  7.  Officers  to  File  Complaints. — Probation  offi- 
cers having  the  powers  of  sheriffs  or  police  officers,  as  well 
as  county  prosecuting  attorneys  shall  have  the  right  and  be 
vested  with  all  power  necessary  to  file  complaints  against  any 
person  under  this  act  and  to  prosecute  any  such  case.  In  all 
such  cases  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  county  prosecuting  officer 
representing  the  people  to  prepare  any  such  complaints  and 
prosecute  any  such  cases  for  such  probation  officer  when  so 
requested  by  such  officer  or  the  judge  of  the  juvenile  court; 
but  nothing  herein  shall  be  construed  to  interfere  with  any 
county  prosecutor  representing  the  people  prosecuting  such 
cases  under  this  or  any  other  act  as  in  other  criminal  cases. 

Section  8.  (a)  Construction. — In  order  to  find  any  per- 
son guilty  of  violating  this  act  it  shall  not  be  necessary  to 
prove  that  the  child  has  actually  become  dependent  or  delin- 
quent, provided  it  appears  from  the  evidence  that  through  any 
act  of  neglect  or  omission  of  duty  or  by  any  improper  act  or 
conduct  on  the  part  of  any  such  person  the  dependency  or  de- 
linquency of  any  child  may  have  been  caused  or  merely  en- 
couraged. 

8.  (b).  This  act  shall  always  be  liberally  construed  in 
favor  of  the  state  for  the  purpose  of  the  protection  of  the 
child  from  neglect  or  omission  of  parental  duty  toward  the 
child  by  the  parents,  as  well  also  to  protect  the  children  of  the 
state  from  the  effects  of  the  improper  conduct,  acts,  or  the 
bad  example  of  any  person  or  persons  whomsoever,  which  may 
be  calculated  to  cause,  encourage  or  contribute  to  the  depend- 
ency or  delinquency  of  children,  although  such  persons  are 
in  no  way  related  to  the  child. 

8.  (c).  Nothing:  in  this  act  shall  be  construed  to  be  in 
conflict  with  or  to  repeal  or  prevent  proceedings  under  any 
act  or  statute  of  this  state  which  may  have  otherwise  defined 
any  specific  act  of  any  person  as  a  crime  of  any  character 
which  act  might  also  constitute  contributory  delinquency  or 
contributory  dependency,  or  to  prevent  or  interfere  with  pro- 
ceedings under  any  such  acts,  nor  shall  it  be  construed  to 
be  inconsistent  with  or  to  repeal  any  act  providing  for  the 
support  by  the  parent  or  parents  of  their  minor  children,  or 
any  act  providing  for  the  punishment  of  cruelty  to  children 
or  the  taking  of  indecent  liberties  with  or  selling  liquor,  to- 


4S 


JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS,  ETC. 


bacco  or  firearms  to  children,  or  permitting  them  in  evil  or 
disreputable  places,  and  nothing  in  any  such  acts  or  similar 
acts  shall  be  construed  to  be  inconsistent  with  or  to  repeal  this 
act  or  prevent  proceeding  hereunder,  but  in  all  cases  where 
there  shall  be  more  than  one  prosecution  for  the  same  offense 
under  whatever  acts  of  the  character  herein  described  the  fact 
may  be  given  in  evidence  to  the  judge  of  the  court,  and  may 
be  in  the  discretion  of  the  court  considered  in  mitigation  of 
any  sentence  in  any  such  cases. 

8.  (d).  Invalidity  of  any  portion  of  this  act  shall  not  af- 
fect the  validity  of  any  other  portion  thereof  which  can  be 
given  effect  without  such  invalid  part. 


OF  THE 

N I  V  E  R  S  ( T  V 


Literature  Suggested 


Instructions  to  Probation  Officers 

By      Hon.      Harry      Jewell,     Judge      Juvenile 
Court,  Gri|nd  Rapldn,    Mich. 


Report  of  Probation  Committee  of  New  York 

Homer  Folks,  105  E.  22nd  St.,  New  York  City. 

The  "Big  Brothers"  Association 

Address    Children's  Court,  New  York  City. 

Juvenile  Delinquency  (1908) 

By  Thos.  Travis,  with  introduction  by  Ben  B. 
T Jndsey.  "Thos.  Y.  Crowell,  New  York  Pub- 
]Ishers. 

Winning  Boys  (1908) 

By   liUhnrn  Merrill,  Introduction  by  Ben   B. 
[ilndsey.     Published    by    Fleming    H.     Revell, 
New  York, 


„«  THE  I.AST:  DA1= 

THIS   BOOK   O        ^^  go  CEN  ggvENTH 


lUU 


OVEBDU 


HICK8-FAIRALL    DENVER. 


